Guy Fawkes

Happy Guy Fawkes!

So today was my last day at the longest job I have ever had - 4 years, 8 months and 1 day! I am excited to start a new challenge on Monday but to be honest, I am a little scared also!

But I am so amped that Obama won. Hurrah!

More on my last day of work soon!

(Sorry, I seemed to have overused exclamation marks in this post. See!)

Here I am

Hello friends. Remember me? I know, it's been too long. So much has happened.
Anyway I'm just dropping in to say hello. I hope to be back soon properly.
Right now, I'm watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show on the telly. Love it! It's been way too long since I saw it. Righto, I better get back to my sing-along. See you soon x

Ladyhawke

Happy Friday to you and you and you.
I hope I'm not disappointing you and you may already know that Jemaine got hitched last weekend. So to cheer you up here's a video by another Kiwi talent.
I am totally loving this song right now. I'd love to catch Ladyhawke live sometime. If you are in Europe you might just be that lucky. Check the tour dates here.

It's a cool video yeah? Ladyhawke (Pip Brown) totally rocks that fringe.
Check out Back of the Van. Equally as cool. What do you think?

Kate Moss in denim

I love her style. She sure does do denim well.

Picture from the August issue of Madison magazine.

Hello!

Hey! So I've been hibernating. It's good. But it's bad because I should have been blogging. And I still have to show you the lovely parcel I received from Catherine! I just need to photograph it...
So for now here are some animal shots I am digging.

Here's little Mary Jane watching March of the Penguins. Ain't she funny?

And I love these photos from my flickr friends 1. 2. 3.

A couple of Fridays ago someone sent me this video on email. I was sitting alone in my office laughing out loud. It was just the tonic I needed after a long week.

And this is possibly one of the coolest dogs ever. EVER.


Enjoy! x

Bowl Heaven

It's official. I'm in bowl heaven. Oh the colours! The patterns! Now just to get my hands on one of these lovely creations...

Bowls by Aida Dirse. Found via Oh Joy

It's July already?

Yikes, how did half the year go by already?!
I bought this album when I was in Australia. I'd never heard anything by Jen Lekman. I like taking a punt like that. That's me living on the edge! It was so different to what I expected.
It's cool. I like it a lot. Especially 'Your Arms Around Me'. This version is a little different from the album version but it's a good acoustic version. I've said the word 'version' too many times haven't I?!
Jens is pretty cute! Aren't you surprised at how deep his voice is? I like that this song has a silly subject matter that you usually think nothing of, other than being a nuisance but Jens has made it into something quite lovely.
Check out the album version of this song for some lovely violins.

Oh how I love New York

Cashmere Mafia has just started. It's set in New York (one of my favourite cities of all time) so it can't be all that bad can it? (or is it a SATC rip off with a little more drama?) But I can't help thinking that Miranda Otto and Frances O'Connor should be speaking with Aussie accents.

Anyways, so when I spent 3 hours at IKEA, Brisbane, I really really really wanted to bring this home. I mean really. It was just a little, um, big. Darn it.

Sarah's amazing trivia - I once saw Frances O'Connor shopping for bed linen at Liberty. Just goes to show the girl has fabulous taste. I don't think she was very well known then but I recognised her because I love this movie.

My friend Ernie took this photo of The Big Apple. Ain't she a beauty? Click for a closer look.

Poppy

My friend Keri bought Poppy in to work a couple of weeks back. Look how she has grown! I'd love to have a dog at work all the time. I think it makes everyone joyful.

Pretty wallpaper, scary bird!

I had to take a photo of this wallpaper I really liked in the ladies loos at David Jones, Brisbane. It's pretty yeah? But it reminds me a little of these scary looking birds that I saw on the Gold Coast!

Oh cabaret, oh cabaret, oh cabaret

Let me set the scene:

A cold wintery night; coats, scarves & gloves. Round tables covered with black tablecloths. Centrepieces of glowing orange candles. Twinkling fairy lights. And Juliet Reynolds Midgley belting out Barbra Streisand. Putting It Together. People. Don't Rain on my Parade. Evergreen. Children Will Listen. All them and a whole lot more. It was perfectly wonderful.

New shoes

Ooh look, new shoes. I love them. We found each other and it was fate. Firstly, my size was on the shelf. Something that never happens. I felt like Cinderella. Secondly, they fit perfectly and are super comfy and thirdly they were the last pair! See, a perfect match.

For those who need to know, they're the Dixie shoe by L by Miss L Fire.

Snow Happy

It snowed last night. It only happens about once a year in Christchurch and I love love love falling snow. I could watch it for hours. But it was so freezing cold that right after I took this photo I ran back inside into the warmth to watch The Holiday and have dinner with my kickass friend Dom and little Mary-Jane. It was a wise move.

I hope your weekend was warmer than mine!

Dave Grohl takes a fall

It's reassuring to know that even rockstars fall over.

William Morris

Mum and I went to the William Morris exhibition yesterday at the art gallery.
Wow, what a talent. It was all breath taking. I think I liked the embroideries best.

image from here

Faker

I'm loving this song by Sydney band Faker. How about you?



I'm still feeling a bit under the weather so I didn't get around to uploading any holiday photos. I'll be away from favourito for the rest of the week so hopefully I will be able to do that next weekend. Have a fabulous week x

Smoosh are smashing!

Hello. I am back from my holiday. It was pefectly spendid. But now I'm sick. Boo.
I'll be back in the weekend to share moments from my trip but for now I'll leave you with this video of Smoosh singing Great Skies. (Thanks NPR for the discovery). I could only wish I was as cool as these girls when I was their age. Heck,I wish I were that cool now.
Bye x

Hello

{I took this photo through my vintage viewfinder. It's Bondi Beach, not the Gold Coast but isn't it funny. }

Here I am. I've been hibernating. It's getting frosty here now. So I'm off to the Gold Coast of Australia for a lovely, relaxing, sleepy holiday. I can't wait. I shall have lots to tell you when I am back I am sure (and I will try to post more regularly! I know, I have gotten to be quite a rubbish blogger. But I still read the posts you write and you still inspire me so thank you).
Have a lovely fortnight. See you soon!
Mwah x

Puppy Fever

And they called it puppy love. And it really really was! I mean just look at them!

My friend Keri is getting a Golden Retreiver puppy for her family. We went to look at them yesterday. 'Poppy' is the 2nd from the right. Or the 3rd from the left. Or the really really cute one that looks just like the others. There are ten puppies in total. You can see that it was a hard choice for Keri's family to make.

But doesn't your heart just melt? Mine did, but I kept my head strong. As much as I would love a little puppy dog who will grow to a bigger dog (a much bigger dog), I really can't right now. And besides, you need to pick up their poop. I haven't had children yet. I'm not sure I 'm ready to pick up any kind of poop.

And with that we can breathe a sigh of relief and joy, for it is Friday. I wish you a lovely, happy, relaxing weekend my pretties.

x

Fresh & Minti

Minti make the cutest clothing for little tykes around. Their hoodies are the best thing since sliced bread. Check the range out here.

New music - what to buy?!

Hello folks
I love good emails. I especially love when they are from Borders and they inform me that I can buy up to 6 cds with a discount of 40%.
So, the question is what to buy? In order to help me from thrashing Wilco to death, please comment back with your suggestions!
Funny, Paige is also asking the same question so let her know your tips too. Cheers!

In a sweet world

I did a little shopping on Saturday morning and picked up the first issue of World Sweet World from here.

A crafty zine from NZ. Sure is sweet! You can check it out and order here.

For you

This is especially for you and you and you and you.
As you can see, I can't stop listening to anything and everything by Wilco. I haven't yet tired of googling Wilco and seeing what I discover.
Now I am off to rest my weary bones on a bed. But no california stars for me. I'll have to make do with pretty New Zealand stars that we will hopefully be able to see better tomorrow night when the people of Christchurch turn off their lights for Earth Hour.
Goodnight my sweet friends. Have a lovely weekend.
X

Yay for birthdays

It's good to have birthdays. Happy happy birthday to my crazy friend Emma (crazy in a good way!)

Thanks Em for being so much fun!

To Alice, with love

the last line from the last letter I received from Alice

My beautiful best friend Alice died on this day 3 years ago. I miss so much about her. But mostly her just being here. To talk to, to laugh with, to write to. We used to write to each other all the time. When I lived overseas, and even when we lived in the same city. Now, I keep buying stationery which is spilling out of my desk drawer. I wish I could write to Ali now.


Dear Ali

I miss you. So very much.

I have moments when it feels like time is whizzing by at lightening speed and other moments when it feels like everything is in slow motion.

I have moments when I can clearly hear your voice in my head saying "Hi Sarah", and other moments when it feels like I am losing my memory of your features. Your fine fingernails, your white teeth, your lovely hair.

You still continue to inspire me. I wish I could share blogland with you! You would love it. I'm glad I named my blog a name we both liked.

I feel like part of me left with you but I know I will always carry you in my heart.

There are so many things I wish I could tell you. I need you to tell me everything will be ok.

I always think of us.

Love you long time my sweet friend

SJM xxx

The day Jeff Tweedy waved at me

I spent Easter in Wellington visiting Jojo. I feel so lucky that we got to go see Wilco play on Monday night. Oh my! The concert was AMAZING! Prior to 9pm on Monday night, I liked Wilco a lot. After 2 hours of being blown away by the musical genius that is Wilco, I am in love.

The gig was in a lovely old theatre which had great acoustics. It also had seats. Comfortable seats mind you, but still seats. It's just wrong to sit down at a concert! Halfway through, I said to Jo that I was going to go stand up at the front and join the dozen or so people already there and that if she didn't come, she would regret it. So when Jeff Tweedy jumped down to join us dancing few, we were glad to be there. (It's ok Jo, you can thank me later).

But I need to do my research better. I was gutted to discover today that Wilco allow non flash photography to be taken at their concerts. Boo hoo me because I didn't take my camera! Hence the rather blurry photos above which were taken from Jo's phone. Lucky that I have a million images imprinted in my memory. Most particularly, one from the very end of the evening, when the band was walking off stage after 2 amazing encores, Mr Tweedy himself looked straight at me, casually raised his hand and walked on. And that was the day that Jeff Tweedy waved at me.

Read the review here.

The title of this post may cause some controversy within my family as Jo thinks Jeff Tweedy waved at her, Sorry Jojo, there's no easy way to say this - you're still gorgeous but it was me he waved at!

Momiji love!

I know, it's been a while but look at what I spied at Borders today. The cutest little Momiji dolls/gifts/sweet things. I love them so much. I think my favourite is Rainbows. She loves shopping, fashion and long division. How can you not love a little doll who loves long division?!

Flowers likes action movies and Dizzy likes knitting and techno.

Do yourself a favour and check out the website.

Love Sarah - I like juicy raindrops and miso.

Update: I had another look at the website and found this doll. Clever Clogs: Once upon a time there was a clever clogs and her name was you. I like: boys who wear glasses.

It's true, I love boys who wear glasses!

Zena Holloway

Big thanks to a friend at work who introduced me the the mesmerising photography of Zena Holloway.

Wow!

Zena's specialty is underwater photography and I am in absolute awe of her craft. Her photos are so ethereal and haunting.

The last one reminds me of Ophelia by John Everett Millais.

Are you in love with them too?

Sweet in every way

Things have been up and down lately.

There is something heavy on my mind and I am finding it hard not to think about it.

My Mum left this sweet treat for me.

It's the littlest things that touch my heart.

Happy Birthday Mum!

This is a photo of my Mum a few days before she turned 21.

Today she is 21 + 40.

My Mum totally rocks. But she will probably hate that I posted this photo here. But I like it. It makes me smile.

She is the bestest best friend any girl could ever wish to have and I am grateful everyday that she is mine.

Happy birthday Mama Mia!

x

Be A Bag

An email popped into my inbox yesterday to let me know that Be A Bag from Anya Hindmarch is back.

When I lived in London I absolutely indulged myself and got my own Be A Bag below.

You can order from here.

My very own Be A Bag with my favourite photo of me as a baby with my two sisters.

Wellywood

I went to Wellington last weekend to hang out with Jojo.

It is such a fabulous city. I love going there.

Here's the lowdown:

What rocked:

- Spending time with Jo. I wish we lived in the same city.

- Lots of coffee / hot chocolate stops: Olive, Astoria, Go Bang Expresso. And catching up with friends.

- Blueberry gelato. Yummy.

- Oh, and Lemon gelato too. Heaven!

- Meeting Jo's friends Lucy & Kerry.

- Going to see 27 Dresses. Have a new found love for 'Bennie & the Jets'.

- Nachos from Sweet Mother's Kitchen.

- Walking past Peter Jackson. You would never guess that he owns his own lear jet!

- Meeting Hana & Maia. The gorgeous 5 month old twin girls of Jo's friends Jane & Craig. Adorable.

- A visit to Unity Books.

- Purchasing the new E.P by The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra. Yep, that's Bret above. Favourite track: It's A Heartache. And check out the cute tee shirts! (FYI - Bret & Jemaine performed a secret gig and signing in a tiny Wellington dvd store today. Watch a clip from it here).

What sucked:

- Having to sit in the front row at the movies. A design fault surely. I was turning my head left and right like I was at a tennis match just so I could see the whole screen! Not good.

- Not bumping into Bret or Jermaine on the street. Or even Mark Wahlberg or Giovanni Ribisi who are in town as well. But that's ok. I'm not really the stalker type that I have made myself sound here.

Actually not much sucked. The weekend was pretty sweet indeed.

And my next trip to Wellington is at Easter to see Wilco! Yay. Can't wait.

Good times

How is it that a more than a week has gone by with no posting from me? And January has finished already! Crazy times.
So, now please allow me to interrupt your day to tell you that Jon Bon Jovi is a very sexy rock God indeed. Oh yes he is. In fact, I might well have paid my $125 just to look at him. (Don't worry Maria, I still love Bono).
So here he is shaking his bum bum at the concert last week. It's funny. Oh, and when he came out wearing a Crusaders rugby shirt, I think the hearts of all Cantabrians melted. Or maybe just the girls hearts...


This song was also rocking.
Well the weekend here was hot, hot, hot and silly me, I got too much sun and am now related to the lobster family. Not a good look.
Wherever you are, I hope you are well x

Picture Perfect

Thank you for allowing me to rant.
I feel much better now.
I cheered myself up with these pretties.


And the juiciest, ripest cheeries I could find. Mmm.


And some new shoes. I love the peep toes and suede trim.

It's the last weekend of the World Buskers Festival. Here are some I caught last week.

Top L-R: The Topp Twins (NZ), The Sintes Brothers (NZ), The Great Dave (UK). Such skinny legs he had!

Bottom L-R: Chipolatas (UK) and Bendy Em (UK). Honestly I have never seen anyone this bendy. Surely it must be illegal! Tee hee!

I am going to try and catch some more buskers this weekend before I go see these rockers. I know. It's going to be FUNTASTIC!

Today is the lovely Alyson's Golden Birthday. Which I guess is tomorrow in the States.

Yes Ali, I guess I must be that far away! So happy happy day Alyson. Looking forward to hearing how you celebrated.

{image from moonjuice}

And to you all, have a sweet weekend x

The grumps.

It's been a bad day. The worst.
I want to cry. Let's face it, sometimes it does make you feel better. Must be those toxins being released. But the tears won't come. Which is unusual for me.
So I need to vent. It's a glass half empty day. Bear with me.

Random things that wind me up...
1. Cyclists who don't wear cycle helmets. Or those that wear them but don't do them up. That's just stupid.
2. When people call sleeves arms. I work in fashion. I get this a lot. Sleeves are on a garment. Arms are on a body. End of story.
3. Drivers who don't use their indicators.
4. When I choose to sit outside when eating out, hoping to enjoy the warm weather, but instead am surrounded by smokers. Eww.
5. I miss my Alice.

On the upside, tomorrow has to be a better day right? I mean, surely. It is Friday after all. Hurrah.

The rap tribute

A cool tribute to a great man - Sir Ed Hillary.

Swap-o-rama

Hello.

Just popped in to say that if you haven't already, you better be quick to sign up to Kelly's Travel Swap.

And if I can't go travelling right this minute, then at least I can get inspired by putting a fun little parcel together.

Check out the details here. But be sure to sign up by Jan 21. Eek, I gotta go email Kelly.

More news from my weekend soon...

Oh Me, Oh My, Oh Laura

Sometimes I hate it when a song I really like gets used in an advert. I just find it annoying that I song I love or means a lot to me, just means a little bit of advertising to someone else. An opportunity to go make a cuppa.
But then again, sometimes it's good. Like in the case of the Saab advert for this lovely song. Because without Saab I wouldn't have heard of Swedish band Oh Laura. And it's a miracle really because I usually mute the adverts!

Happy happy Friday to you! I hope you have an ace weekend x

A little bit smitten...

So here's the thing. I might be just a little bit smitten with a certain Mr Anderson Cooper.

Somehow over the holidays I discovered the 360 podcast on iTunes and have been excitedly downloading the new session each day. Of course I had heard of Anderson before, watched him on Oprah etc, but I don't have cable TV so did not have the pleasure of watching him each day. Until now. There is a whole lot of politics which is not really my thing but Anderson sure does make up for it.

And yes, I have heard that he might bat for the other team, but who cares? He's dishy and intelligent. I dig that. (Just so you know, I also have a thing for Nate Berkus. Yes, there is a theme here!).

P.S tomorrow is the Big Day Out in Auckland. Which means that the Arcade Fire will be playing. But I will be at work. In Christchurch. In the South Island. And they will be in the North Island. So you get it right? I don't get to see them! Oh boo hoo.

The Wombats

The Wombats - Let's Dance to Joy Division
I cannot get this song out of my head.
Can you listen to it without tapping your feet?
Nah, me neither.

The Golden Ticket

I'm not calling them New Years Resolutions.

From now on, the list is going to be called The Golden Ticket (thanks to my workmate EL). I was never much of a resolution grl. But I'm very attracted to the Golden Ticket idea. It must be the Willy Wonka fan in me.

So here it is. My list. There is no doubt a lot still to add, but it will do for now. Albeit 2 weeks late. I know I said I was going to be a better blogger and I haven't got off to a good start for 2008 have I? It seems I am not a good blogger in the summer. It has been scorching hot here. So it's been barbecues and swimming all round. Oh, and work.

So from me to you, two weeks late, Happy New Year my friend.