New 'kids' on the block

Have a look at this darling heart of a face ....

He's our new addition to the family. This is him howling throught the verandah palings when I was leaving yesterday morning, he sounded like a little baby wolf

nestled on items of furniture he shouldn't be on...

It's quite rediculous how cute he is. We've been keeping him up as late as we are at night to help him sleep through ... which .. works! He wakes up with the birds at about 4:30am and then chills out for a few hours more. A friend recommended a hot water bottle. Gold I tell you. Absolute gold.

Which brings to me to the second new kid on the block. At 8:30pm last night my recent purchase was delivered. A Baptists Bar Sideboard, this is it in all of it's terribly photographed glory shoved under a window in the dining room

The bar is hidden away and swivels

The seller told me that the sideboards were initially made in London for Baptist Priests (who are not allowed to drink...) to hide their booze. Clever isn't it. I love a good cocktail cabinet so this appealed to me. I've only found one more online which sold in the US.

The handles are great. I like them alot. I've wanted a bit of gold detail to work with the honan matting. This sideboard has good potential to look gaudy, but with the matting I think it'll come out looking rather lovely. 

Christmas in just a few days. I still have shopping to do, just a bit. I like the midnight shop, it always has a good rushed christmas vibe.

 

 Have a great week!!!!

Palm Springs

Palm Springs is about 2hours out of LA, or maybe a snippet more. We drove there on the way through to Vegas so it was a short visit.

I did manage to see the Kaufmann House, as mentioned in a previous post, and also drove by this house.

This is the house that Elvis and Priscilla went for their honeymoon. I like Elvis. He was a cool cat.

A couple of interior shots ...

I'd planned to write more about the house, but stumbled across this blog that covers off everything and also where i found the above piccies. Please read it. This house is utterly amazing i so desperately need to stay there.

The following houses were within the same vicinity that the Kaufmann House is in. I snapped them whilst driving and hanging my arm out the window, so they're not great, and not the best Palm Springs has to offer but they're little gem’s all the same.

 The onyl house i saw with grass

Edris House above built 1953/4. Alot of the houses up near the Edris house (they're higher) have hardcore signage about private property and stay out etc etc. Serious security system action.

I really liked this gate above and  the use of besser bricks for the fencing below.

So above they've used the bricking width ways and then on the house walls below, long ways. I love how that looks. It's like tiling but not.

 

On the way out, the clouds were coming in. The mountains looked spectacular.

Cool old car below. In fact, cool vintage cars everywhere over there

 This is the town centre, we went to the diner that you can see with the red awnings over it

This was inside. It was like we were in the scene in Greese where Sandy says ' I need some money' to put a song on the juke box.

Reflecting on my pic's it doesn't make the properties look that good. But they are. All in rows with a glorious mountain backdrop, palm trees that've been in the ground for decades, great angles, glass, brickwork, timber detailing. I wanted desperately to get up to some properties nestled into the hills but they're gated communities i think.

The way out. Can't wait to go back.

Bergdorf Goodman Windows 2011

As mentioned in a previous post, and to bring on a little Christmas cheer (even though most displays have nothing to do with christmas...) please find Bergdorf Goodman's New York Christmas Window displays.

Be warned, there's alot of photo's, but they are very, very creative - so have a flick through and tell me which one's your fave. I like the woman in the red dress where she's sitting down. They're quite overwhelming to try and decipher in a photo. So much going on in each window.

This is one of the boys one's but there were people everywhere and i was on my way to show so had to dash ...

It must take all year just to come up with each window design and source the props. The detail is so amazing.

$5 rugs and other things

I popped to Ikea last week for some frames. On my way to the frames (they're so crafty with the layout of that store) i saw these rugs for $5. In an effort to make the christmas tree look a little more festive, i decided to buy a bunch and lay them together. What do you think? Kinda cute for $25.

  

Good shades of yellow, blue, navy and red. The beige/greeny one on top ties in the honan matting i have in the adjoining room. They had a cute Navy and Pink one as well, i think that was the only colour i walked away without. I love that i can throw them in the wash and use them in the bathroom, front and rear doors, foot of the bed. Versatility is good.

Great shell. Purchased recently from the one and only 'The Old Boathouse' at Cottage Garden Nursery. There's still a few left of varying sizes and very fairly priced (i may have taken the last one of this size...) Thank you Catherine and Kristen - you continue to furnish my house with beautiful pieces. These'd make a cute chrissie gift filled with chocolates or lollies too and the big one's are fab as door stops.

Pretty clutch snapped up from 'Lilly G' at Camp Hill. It too has shells on it...

 

I had this pic on my phone - thought i'd throw it up seeing this post has turned out to be a show and tell. It's an old pocket watch style electric clock i carried all the way back from Palm Springs. Just need to rustle up a good worn gold or black chain and then find a wall. I saw it and had to have it regardless of baggage allowance.

I love the feeling of christmas. Bing Crosby, twinkly lights, crowded Dan Murphy's and Woolworths stores. This is my little chrissie centrepiece on the dining room table - nothing fancy smancy. I bought these hanging paper things a few months ago from a place called 'Trads' at Cannon Hill shopping centre ($1 ea) - the dodgy end. Very lovely shade of red. They do the trick and i think they still have some left in green and white.

 

Christmas in 12 days - how did that happen? I need a new eye cream.