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| David Austin's "Mary" rose |
It's been quite hot this week, so I've had a couple of Summer dresses out for a wearing. This is a Milly dress in blue and white makes me think of blue and white china. I wore it Friday to see Skyfall and have dinner with some old School friends on a balmy night down at The Parade, Norwood. One of my friends picked me up and complimented me on the dress, which I told her I'd actually worn all day - she laughed her head off and told me I was like some sort of 1950's housewife. Possibly, but a dress is in fact quite a lazy way to dress - no need to think about separates, just zip up and go. A bit like my old School Uniform summer dress really.
Skyfall was excellent. I give it 5/5. It's quite different from the usual Bonds, very clever, not so cliched, not so much focus on the womanising and gadgets. Mr AV was green with envy that I was going without him. He was trying to gatecrash the girls dinner/ movie night. As he was on babysitting duty (although you don't actually babysit your own children, I like to point out to him) he'll be going some other time.
This dress I wore earlier in the week. It's a Lily Pulitzer shift that I've had for maybe 4 or 5 years. It's very retro 60's and I love the bright yellow. This one is a heavy linen/ cotton so I can wash it in the machine (essential for my life full of vegemite finger prints), and has other extras, like bra strap keepers (more dresses need these), is fully lined and has concealed pockets.
My children were beside themselves with excitement when their special video message from Santa (or Father Christmas as he is called in South Australia, it's a regional thing I gather) arrived in my email inbox. If you haven't tried the Portable North Pole tv, do. It's so fun - you enter some basic information on the child ( what they want for Christmas, their name, upload a photo etc) and they get a personalised message with an emailed link to it where Santa calls them by name, has a photo of them in his book, shows them around the North Pole and they see the (real) Reindeer. You can upgrade and pay for more premium options, but the free version is fantastic, so I don't feel a need to. My only word of warning is that if you choose that they are not "nice" ie "naughty" or "naughty- nice" they do get really ticked off by Santa. I did this the first year I tried it as my oldest was carrying on a lot at bedtime and driving me up the wall. Well, he was absolutely terrified that Santa was not going to deliver to him that year - behaviour improved, but he still talks about it... traumatised for life, apparently.
I bought this fairly ugly standard lamp for my daughter E's bedroom. I got it through Gumtree.com.au for $70. I'm planning on painting it white and putting a new shade on. It will go next to the armchair that I recently had reupholstered for her. When I arrived to pick it up, the lady selling it told me that she had paid.....wait for it......$1500 originally. I'm not joking. I nearly fell over - I was actually thinking I'd overpaid by $10 or so. She is moving to Queensland, and didn't want to pay to move it with them. The shade is made of silk and hand pleated with expensive cord detail, the base is made of solid mahogany and also handmade. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was about to be painted and the over the top enormous shade ditched. I had assumed when I bought it that it was stained pine, and a relic from someone's "good room" in the 80's, a prime item for a redo. My Father was horrified when I told him I was painting it (he is of the opinion that "good" wood should not be painted), but it does have a very reddish and new finish to it. Now I'm in two minds - it will definitely be improved with a new shade, but should I keep it wood? We do have a lot of dark wood pieces in our house (and her bedroom has a cedar wardrobe and chest of drawers) Opinions please!
And with the hot weather, the Cricket test on at the Adelaide Oval, and small, sick people who have been driving me up the wall, a few glasses of Pimm's have been consumed this week. Oh look, this example for the photo it isn't as full of fruit as it's supposed to be (I was too eager to drink it to do much more than put some lemon and cucumber in it), but it was still delicious, and a good way to end the evening. Last night I was sitting on the low walls around the tennis court with Mr AV, drinking this, and watching the children play in the sprinkler at twilight. They ran out their evening sillies, and didn't require a bath. Bonus.
Hope you've all had a good week. xx