Reading | Daily Dishonesty - Lauren Hom (birthday present to myself) & Not That Kind Of Girl - Lena Dunham (Finished! Loved it!).
Listening | So Frenchy So Chic 2014 & Courtney Barnett.
Watching | Downton Abbey, Girls, Gogglebox (guilty pleasure, but rather good) & Mad As Hell.
Consuming | Chai and banana bread from Sweetbrew (comfort food).
Making | Fun commissioned illustrations (lots of pet portraits).
Looking forward to | Perfecting my own chai recipe, having the open fire going at my apartment in Winter (I just need to remember how to make a fire), my mum coming to visit at the end of the month and hopefully having more time for personal creative projects.
This month I turned twenty five! I also attended a friend's baby shower, a little dinner party at Holly's, Isis and Damien's going away party, had friends over for afternoon tea, was visited by two British backpackers, had a toddler play date, a handful of meet ups at Sweetbrew for coffee and lunches at Fresh with friends and made a trip to Hobart to see Darren Hanlon and hang out with my friend Mem. So social! I am really enjoying meeting up with friends more and putting more effort into friendships. I have met so many good people in Tasmania.
I'm hoping to write up a 25 before 26 list in the new few days and share it. It is always fun to have some little goals to aim for each year (even if I don't get around to half of them).
I hope you had a great month.
I went to my sweet friend Ella's baby shower today and wore this new dress. I put it on layby a month or two ago and I'm a little bit in love with it. It's by Dear Creatures (and is on sale on their website at the moment). The baby shower was lovely (and the food was amazing) and I'm very excited to meet her new little girl in a few weeks.
I'm house sitting at the moment, but stopped by my apartment to tidy it up for my rental inspection tomorrow. I am looking forward to getting back to it in a little while, now that a friend has lent me her fridge and washing machine and the internet is being connected. I'll feel like a real person again!
Nice things lately:
+ My work colleagues making me feel special when I had to work on my birthday this week (and enforcing that I wear a big, pink 'Birthday Girl' badge).
+ Mint Slice biscuits.
+ Lunch dates and afternoon teas with lovely friends.
+ Being given a cute hand-me-down dress from a sweet friend.
+ Finishing up some fun commissions (lots of pet portraits!).
+ Raw, vegan cheezecake shared with Theo.
+ Reading in bed.
+ Listening to lots of Radio National (I'm an old person).
+ Daily fur brushing sessions with the cat I'm minding; Harry the British Blue (so soft!).
Details (L - R): Cover Story Flamingo Filofax, keys, handy little container that holds my headphones so they don't get messy, Ruby Woo by Mac lipstick, wooden toy car (for Theo to play with on outings), Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula lip balm, 'Aphrodesia' by Spiritual Sky perfume (the only perfume I've ever owned), UniBall Micro Eye pen (the best pens ever), pretty handkerchief (for my terrible allergies), thrifted Welsh tapestry purse, Dangerfield straw heart bag (no longer available but they do have a strawberry shaped one!). I also forgot to include my phone in this shot - obviously an essential item!
I took this photo for a little guest post that never went ahead, so I thought I'd share it here instead. This handy little bag fits in just the essentials and I can't fill it too full and make it too heavy and cumbersome to cart around. It fits in my bike basket nicely or I throw it over an arm. I actually got it for free when Dangerfield had a buy-two-items-get-one-free sale and it gets a lot of nice comments, often from men, ha. An old, intoxicated Montenegrin man at work a few weeks ago saw me with it and said "It is so CUTE and HEART shaped... like YOU!". Thanks, I think!
What are your daily essentials?
Here are some pictures from a little wander I took around my neighbourhood (it was a race against time before my camera battery ran out). I've been trying to take more walks and it has been nice to get to know the area. I will say though, I haven't seen enough cats.
My suburb is quite lovely and just a little bit posh. There are three private schools within 200m of my house and thus mornings and afternoons are a bit hellish to drive down the main street (because posh kids don't catch the bus - they all get picked up by their parents in SUVs).
What are your favourite things about your neighbourhood?