rose.

Posted on August 27, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

i have a new found obsession. gardening. yes ! you did hear me correctly … i am a budding horticulturist who just can’t get enough. it is incredibly satisfying seeing immediate progress. i have been weeding until the cows come home & it feels gooooood. i also love the anticipation … waiting for the first buds of a plant to come out – it is extra exciting because i have not seen our garden in full bloom yet. spring is so close & i am jumping out of my skin waiting to see the flowers in our garden. i have just discovered that our crawling rose has started to bloom. i feel like popping some champagne & eating prawns. yippee !

on the weekend we did heaps more gardening. it was crazy fun because we were in the front yard so all the neighbours’ kids came over. i just love it. they are the sweetest kids around & our joey & the baby love them all.

mum gave me a yellow rose from my sister’s garden to plant in ours. it has been potted for a few months and so it looks like it has died. but i still have hope. the baby & i decided to plant it the other day. it looks like she shares the same passion for gardening as her mama i have been watering the rose religiously since planted – it is in a good sunny spot.

Do you have any good advice for caring for a rose??

i need a hair cut.

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

i really need a hair cut. my fringe is just getting to that stage where it’s annoying & looking a little bit out of place. the rest of my head just looks like a mop. luckily for me my hairdresser is in town & tomorrow is the day … hurrah !

friday is always such a happy day because it means the weekend is nearly here. whoop ! i am really looking forward to this weekend – to having my babes with me all day, to celebrating an engagement, to watching a movie, to going to church. it is a promising weekend. especially after the awesome time we had last weekend. i hope we can repeat some of last weekend’s glory … like …

#proudwife.

Posted on August 22, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

it doesn’t take much for my man to impress me. he pretty much just has to breathe & i am totally #proudwife. but this weekend was really special for him & also for me as i was with him when he was awarded the Premier’s Teachers Mutual Bank Mathematics Scholarship. wow ! what an incredible achievement. i was so proud & thoroughly enjoyed watching him be recognised for his creativity and his hard work. i am so excited to see what he gets up to in our lifetime together. let’s just say there is never a dull moment in our house because he is never satisfied with mediocrity or slowing down. even. for. a. second. i am just delighted for him & I can’t wait to hear about all his adventures from his study tour next year.

i was also absolutely delighted to witness a sweet little friend of mine receive the Premier’s COFA Scholarship for Creative Arts. The gorgeous hannah was my flatmate while i was at uni & bless her little heart she is the wonderful woman who introduced me to installations … our little unit was practically an installation with all her works while she was completing her studies at COFA. isn’t she just so gorgeous ?! she will use her scholarship to experience the shanghai biennale & other wonderful things. what a talented lady !

one day closer.

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

i am one day closer to becoming a teacher ! yip yip ! today i had my first of 25 days as a prac student at an incredibly beautiful school – Roseville College. i am just in awe of how beautiful the gardens are, how modern the classrooms are and how absolutely lovely the staff & students are. i have been blessed to get a short gig there & I am sooooooo looking forward to the next five weeks. i was really nervous this morning turning up to ‘work’, but i really should not have been – everyone was so welcoming & incredibly kind.

i just love teaching. i was observing classes today & i was practically jumping out of my seat desperate to start teaching. i have lots and lots and lots to learn about teaching and learning. it feels like i am a sponge soaking up all things teachery. wow ! awesome fun !!

just want to say a massive thank you to my man, mark. he keeps telling me how proud he is of me, he is always so encouraging & he is 110% behind me in this journey. i’d also like to publicly thank my mother & father in-love. they have taken five weeks out of their lives to come & live in Sydney to look after our two little babiekins. it is most generous of them, but, if you know them at all … completely in their character & they wouldn’t have it any other way ! yes … i am one lucky lady on many many many fronts.

here are a few pics taken on the weekend (at another event) of me in my teacher outfit … students … this is mrs liddell comin’ atcha !

(** in case you are wondering, i am completing my studies through Wesley Institute online … it is an absolutely fantastic course & I cannot recommend it enough !)

home improvement DIY.

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

i am learning a lot about my time living in apartments. apartment living is awesome fun & i miss it a lot. i miss the community, the knowledge that there is someone just next door. i miss how easy it is to heat or cool an apartment. i miss the location of apartment living … so convenient, & for us on our favourite beach in the whole wide world !

one thing that i have been reflecting on recently is that when i was living in apartments i never really had any ‘buy in’ for staying there long term. this meant my furniture was very haphazard & i essentially only acquired what i desperately needed & what fit the (teeny weeny) space. in our old complex we had a saying … “less than less is more”. every council clean up we would all basically put our entire apartment on the side of the road and then start rebuilding. thanks to ikea & op shops it was easy to have this flexibility to change our apartment as our needs changed every six months or so.

now that we are in a house, i am realising more and more how much i dislike our furniture & how desperate i am to put some hard yards in to make it look amazing. after all, we are going to be here for a looooooong time ! i want every item in our house to be an item that i absolutely love. this means it will be a long process, but i am sure the rewards will be great !!

in the meantime, i am going to make do with what we have. so, this brings me to my little DIY that i whipped up the other day. here is a total eyesore that just (& I mean JUST) fit into our little apartment …

isn’t it horrible? i really should paint it white, but at the moment i have a lot on my plate so i will just have to wait. a friend of mine suggested making a little curtain to hide some of the mess. so that’s exactly what i did ! here’s how it goes …

i chose the fabric.

i lay the fabric out to decide in what order i would like them.

i cut. i sewed & voila !

while this has been a vast improvement to our TV cabinet, i must admit i am not 100% in love. the floral material needs a bit of neon pink or neon yellow & perhaps the background colour should be white rather than black. nevertheless, it will absolutely do for now !

what little home improvements have you been up to lately?

mad men.

Posted on August 14, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

i love mad men. it is absolutely in the top five of my favourite tv series. i love how nothing happens in mad men … yet so much happens. i love the styling. i love the story lines (or even lack thereof!). i love the soundtrack. i just love all of it. i was so pleasantly surprised to find James Minchin III ‘s website the other day care of my friend Rosie over at fashademic. his stills from the set of mad men are truly beautiful.

you can find more of his incredible stills over here.

neon.

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

i have been really sick these last two weeks i don’t get sick so it is a bit weird being sick. my husband has been amazing while i have been sick. he claims i don’t know how to be sick (i think it’s because i don’t get ‘man flu’). so he repeatedly brings me cups of hot tea, medicine, and sends me to bed early. bless him. the house is a shambles, there is washing to the ceiling and lots of food (rice in particular) under the baby’s high chair. i caved today and finally went to the doctor i am now on antibiotics i can’t remember the last time i took antibiotics and was stumped by the dr’s question if i would prefer amoxicillin or augmentin ???? i had no idea so went for the lower strength antibiotic.

anyhoo, mark gave me the weekend off and i pretty much spent it sleeping on the couch. but in my moments of consciousness, as i was looking around the lounge room, i decided it is in desperate need of some neon. neon neon neon. neon is happy. here are a few places from around the web that have made me happy …

one, two, three, four, five. wow ! get me some neon. xx

for my sister (in particular).

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

last week i had the absolute pleasure of meeting the newest member to my sister’s extended family … baby mj. what an absolute delight. she is so dreamy, still all curled up, has that incredible new born smell, is adored by her big sister aj and brings so much joy to her parents. look at her big blue eyes and all that hair ! she is beautiful. AJ (mum) is remarkably relaxed – taking it in her stride & enjoying her newest little babiekin. such a sweet little family to be around. thanks for having us over AJ ! what an honour & a privilege to see baby mj at only just two weeks old. my big sister misses you !!

my little helpers.

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Emmy Liddell

washing. the bain of my existence ! it feels like it never ends … and it really never does ! when it comes to folding washing in this house i have two little helpers – gee … lucky me