Happy Birthday Mr. Goodman!

I'd like to wish Jeremiah Goodman a very happy birthday and remind you to visit his new exhibition, Inspired Impressions.  It runs from now through December 20, 2010 at the New York School of Interior Design.  Bon weekend!

Happy Times

My beautiful dad.

The beach houses surrounding the house we stayed in. The agapanthus grows wild in front of these houses. I would love to see them flowering.

The gardens in this small sleepy beach side town are to-die-for.



Table set for Dad's Birthday lunch.






I spotted this cute beach shack when I was out picking flowers and loved it. In New Zealand I've noticed they paint many of their houses black and white which I love.



I had a bath in this huge clawfoot bath every day we were there. I love the little vintage butterfly prints on the wall.




When we eventually renovate the kitchen in our new house I definitely want to have a cabinet built just like this one which was in the kitchen at the beach house. It was so perfect for all the plates, platters, cups etc.

The beach in front of the house.

We've just returned home from a week in New Zealand where we celebrated my father's 60th Birthday. After spending a few days in Auckland we caught a plane down to Napier and drove down to a beautiful beach house my parent's have been frequenting over the past 12 months in a sleepy beach side town in Hawkes Bay. We spent 3 days here with my parents, brothers, cousins, aunty & uncle and our grandmother. It was the most wonderful holiday with lots of laughs, lots of tears and lots of reminiscing. Mum cooked an amazing lunch for Dad on his birthday. I went down the street and picked some gorgeous roadside flowers which I arranged for the table. It was the most amazing week away from work and the craziness of life. Happy 60th Birthday Dad. You are one in a million and we all love you so much.

If anyone is interested in staying at this beautiful house click HERE for details.

A good thing never ends.

July 26th is the birthday of Sir Michael Philip Jagger. I like to remember certain rock stars in heyday of their youth. These photos of Mick in the 1960's and 70's are as classic as his quotes. In the words of Mick, "a good thing never ends." Rock on Mick!

"People get very thoughtful when they are in cars. I no longer care for cars. I don't collect them."

"My secrets must be poetic to be believable."

"Lose your dreams and you might lose your mind."

"People think they know you. They know the things about you that you have forgotten."

"The past is a great place and I don't want to erase it or to regret it, but I don't want to be its prisoner either."

"I have never wanted to give up performing on stage, but one day the tours will be over."

"You wake up in the morning and you look at your old spoon, and you say to yourself, 'Mick, it's time to get yourself a new spoon.' And you do."

"Thank you for leaving us alone but giving us enough attention to boost our egos."

"A lot of times songs are very much of a moment, that you just encapsulate. They come to you, you write them, you feel good that day, or bad that day."

"I haven't had the time to plan returning to the scene because I haven't left it."

"I can't get no satisfaction."

"The elusive nature of love... it can be such a fleeting thing. You see it there and it's just fluttering and it's gone."

"Anything worth doing is worth overdoing."

"People have this obsession. They want you to be like you were in 1969. They want you to, because otherwise their youth goes with you. It's very selfish, but it's understandable."