Just for a Good Laugh

I'm hoping to continue my travel series: profiling various designers and stores around Melbourne and surrounding areas. But for today I'm sending you over to my other blog that is more about my life and random thoughts. I had to write about what happened to me last week and thought everyone who reads this blog would get a good laugh out of my misfortune turned fortune (I would later find out)

SwanK SimplexitY

This is my more general blog and I hope you all enjoy it! Have a great and lovely tuesday! (or Monday if you are in the states!)

MoNk Design in Williamstown

Have you ever had that overwhelming feeling of excitement walking into a design store? I had that feeling yesterday when we took a quick trip to check out Williamstown. Heading down to the waterfront I glanced through the windows of Monk Designs storefront. And I was sold.

Oversized-stainless steel lighting fixtures counterbalance the luxe, soft fabrics. Beautifully upholstered chairs and supple leather couches took up most of the residence in this fabulous design shop. For anyone settling down in and around Williamstown and needs custom build furniture or a few chair makeovers, I would suggest heading down to Monk Design in downtown.

Blissful Bathrooms

My mom is hopefully re-doing our bathroom soon. She is a muralist (more like was: her 100% effort is now in her business The Fig Tree...which you can find on Etsy. which you should probably check out and buy things because everything she does is fabulous and made with love)
So during her muralist phase she decided to use our house as her canvas. (Minus my room because I insisted on decorating it myself.) But the downstairs nook bathroom became a jungle. Like an actual green, animal, jungle bathroom. Unfortunately its' seen its day, and is ready for a little face-lift.
There are blue floor and sink tiles which will be staying. She emailed asking me for my opinion. And these were what I came up with keeping in mind the navy blue.

an accent blue wall, accompanied with whites, grays and calm shades.

A gray and silver wallpaper, with a fun, graphic mirror.

Gold and blues are the epitome of royalty and luxe. It's so subtle, yet so effective.

Bravo Brad!

Not only is he picking up orphans left and right, involved with another powerhouse of a movie star, but he's knee-deep in efforts to rebuild and stabilize New Orleans. More accurately should I say, keep New Orleans "Afloat".
Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation has teamed up with Morphosis Archtitects and UCLA architect students to design and construct floating houses. In the case of unforeseen floods will use their foundation as rafts.


Very admirable on part of Brad Pitt and very ingenious on part of the architects and students involved. They even came up with a very clever name for it: FLOAT house. get it!?


They don't even look that offense, but what happens when all the houses float away and crash into each other and sink? I'm not saying this to be mean, I'm truly curious if the houses will be connected in any way to the ground, allowing them to rise with the water, but be tethered down. Similar to that of a buoy. Just a thought.
all photos courtesy of Interior Design Magazine.

Fitzroy St.

We went down to Fitzroy St. and St.Kilda Beach to check out the scene for Friday happy hour and I was very pleased with what I found. St.Kilda Beach is crawling with great little boutiques and fun, atmospheric bars and restaurants. I didn't get to explore in depth (Stay tuned for a complete guide to St.Kilda Beach after I get to go solo) but I found this super clever bed linen store dubbed: holy Sheet! I was itching to go in, but of course the boy needed to eat, and to be honest I was ready for a happy hour drink.

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So we took a quick ride around the corner to Fitzroy St. which turns out to be quite the hip hang out place. One place obviously had some great drink specials (hard to find around here, alcohol prices are ridiculous compared the the States) because it was packed inside and out. So we continued up the street to a place I spotted from the tram called Cushion. I know, how could you not be intrigued. It's unpretentious, calm atmosphere invited us in immediately, (did I mention the $5 house wines and beer, along with $10 mains!?) Although I wasn't hungry, K ordered a Chicken and Bacon Burger and we had a nice happy hour at Cushion. Ironically we sat on hard benches outside, not cushions.

Travel Series

So, I have been trying to brainstorm how to incorporate my international travels here in Australia into my design blog to make my posts more inspired and interesting. I've had trouble lately coming up with blog-worthy posts and its probably because I've been so caught up in getting settled here and exploring. So now that I'm finally getting the hang of the land down under I've decided it would be fun to do a type of travel series; visiting and reviewing various interior decor and design stores and boutiques in and around Melbourne. Each week I will spotlight a new store and give most likely raving reviews. There's already one store I'm infatuated with called, Maison L, in Richmond just outside of the city.
I was walking to the bus from an interview in this tiny city and there was this little tiny boutique that I had to stop and double take. The owner must have thought I was nuts, as I didn't stop raving about the one-of-a-kind pieces of giant coral that she had in amongst Chanel paperweights, french ivory linens and lilies. I was too overwhelmed (and my feet were killing me from my Michael Kors pumps) to take pictures, but Maison L will be one of the first stops on my list. Unfortunately she doesn't have a website.

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So I hope you all enjoy reading my design travel series and it should be up and running in a week or so. And I found these fabulous pillows courtesy of Studio TOTA's blog.

G'day!

Check it Out

I have discovered that Australia likes to profit off there magazines. I can't seem to snag a magazine around here from less than $10! So, I'm trying to be resourceful and use the internet to get my magazine fix. I'm dying to have a hard copy of the new Lonny Magazine, but until I convince someone in the states to send it to me, this online version will have to do.

Online Lonny Magazine

I'm spending the next hour virtually flipping through the pages of this great publication.

Happy Mondays!

I'm pretty sure I'm loving white right now.

My perfect Zebra

Remember how I said I dream of the perfect zebra rug in my next place? Well, I just found it courtesy of La Dolce Vita who posted about the new Lonny magazine. That I'm really hoping I can get my hands on somehow even though I'm in Australia.


This is the most perfect application of my idea I've ever seen. I'm in love. deep deep love. And can't wait to get my hands on that magazine.

Score:Love-Love....Chanel

This is my second post of the day but Completely necessary under the circumstances. Have I been living under a rock, or did no one know that Chanel does the most fabulous sport gear?










(I don't know if my boyfriend would approve of ever playing catch with me using this ball, but I love it)

Not like I could or would buy any of it. But a girl can always dream!! (Ok, I might buy the rackets if I ever had enough money)

My Wishlist

I always dream about what my perfectly designed abode would look like.
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I dream of the perfect size and textured faux zebra rug (Minus the hideous big flat screen tv)


I dream of the most chic, inviting workspace

I dream of the most perfect pintucked duvet draped over the coziest place in the home



I dream of the most fabulous space for entertaining and hosting guests


Although I'm fully loving and enjoying our stay in Australia, I think I'll be happy when we return to the States and try to develop some sort of stability. In the last year I have moved places 5 times and all my belongings have been stuck in boxes. Not so fabulous. Hopefully next year we can find a place to call home for just a while.

Tried and Tried

I've written three different posts and was dissatisfied with all of them. So I'm giving up today and leaving with this print that is hugely popular right now.

Have a lovely hump day every one!

Rachel Zoe Home

Every time I watch The Rachel Zoe Project, I have to occasionally catch myself drooling over the fabulous clothes, effortless chic styling's, and I often re-watch the shows to catch the interior design of her spaces.

Interestingly enough, (stop staring at the shoes...I know...its: bananas) her house is minimalistic in design and very sterile. This may be in part to her hectic schedule and desire for a calm, peaceful place to "relax" when not at her studio. While she loves color, flair and especially furs when styling her clients, her home is quite the opposite.(Ok, the furs are still very pervasive in the design) She is heavily influenced by the 70's fashion period with the bold, eccentric prints that can be seen frequently in Missoni's designs.

Although Rachel may be tiny-sized, her attitude and fashion opinions are super-sized. Glimpses of this are visible in her home, especially with her luscious over-sized bed.


From everything I've seen, I'm a huge fan of both her and her home. The only thing I would add in my design would be more eye-catching focal pieces in certain areas such as her living room. But as a whole, it is a relaxing, soothing space. And I definitely wouldn't mind picking up one of those books and cuddling into that bed!

Feeling At Home

I've been living in Australia for one week now. And it's made me really appreciate how the small things make someone feel comfortable and at home. The first couple days were tough: jet-lag, new house, different bed, different everything. But now that we have had a few days to explore and be on our own (our hosts have gone to SF in the States for 2 weeks). I was happy that I did bring somethings with me to make it feel more like home:

I always have candles by my bed at home, so before I left I stopped by my favorite candle store in Healdsburg La Farmacista and picked up some Volspua Travel Candles. (I also love the owners of this shop!)

A soft, plush oversized throw blanket

My favorite go-to, last-through-anything sandals: Rainbows

My own pillow from home


Oh and lets not forget my boyfriend. We both admitted that we would have been miserable here if we didn't have each other.
What do you have to have when you travel to make things feel more homey?

A walk down a pier

Today me and the boy went for a little drive down the small coast near Melbourne. We walked down this seemingly-never ending pier and enjoyed the serenity of it. Sometimes life keeps crazy and chaotic, but being able to step back and relax can make it all worth while.
We were both slightly homesick last week, but knowing that we have each other here makes it much better.

I'm BACK! and In Aussie-land

Hello fellow bloggers, I'm back and ready for some action. Blog action I mean. I have finally settled into the land down under and now feel as though I can resume responsible blogging duties. To catch everyone up real quick:

Left the states this time last week, have finally recovered from Jet-lag, finally have an Australian bank card, took my first trip into Melbourne, and fell in love. Here are just a few images from my first of many trips into the city of Melbourne.
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They had all these graphic cook books! and a book on Melbourne
Both taken in a quaint home decor store called Rap products
I fell in love with these owls!

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I had the boy with me today so we did Queen Victoria Market, got some tasty treats and tasted some wines and then wandered around the town just to get familiar with it. I can't wait to go do much more exploring! It's going to be fabulous.

roll tide and mojito time

Well today is kick off day for Alabama football. Which for any of my non southern subcribers means drinking, snacking and a lot of cheering. Although it's only my third football season in football country (read-the south, mainly on the UA campus, I know the routine. Thus I have armed myself with veggie burgers and delicious low cal mojito recipes. Should b a good season although this year I'm escaping to Australia and I'll regain my boyfriends undivided attention, they don't have espn there right?!

I apologize

I apologize for my absence from the blogging world. I've been traveling and had a horrendous time with my flights home and spent a full 24 hours awake and in an airport. WITHOUT free wifi, thanks Chicago O'hare. I'm still frantically getting everything ready for our trip down under and will get back to this beautiful blogging world very soon. Stay with me friends!

I finally succumbed, hello iphone

I finally joined the masses and traded in my trusted, although thoroughly beaten Blackberry for a shiny, new iphone. I used to instantly snap up every new phone that was revealed, but I wanted to wait until they had been out for a while and prices dropped.

So here's to a fun, iphone tapping weekend.

Another Lovely Day

I had another fab day with the mom. Hit the Outlet Shops; necklace from Saks, She scored some St.John Sport Sweats for only $30 instead of $400! And Then we dined at my favorite place in Santa Rosa; Guy Fieri's Tex Wasabi's.

I get the Earthy Crunchy Rolls and a Bowl of Miso.
The place is a fun, hip dining experience with the most outrageous menu items. Think a funky, rock and roll blended with the traditional Japanese feel. So original.
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Then it was on to the mall to use up some coupons for Macys. Since I'm headed to Aussie I'm not allowed to buy any more jeans or heavy items, thus I scored the clearance shoe racks for cute, comfy flats. I scored big.

Michael Kors Logo Leather Flats: originally $120. Paid $30 !

Jessica Simpson Sandals; Originally $90; Paid $20 Yes!


Gap Driving Flats Silver $22

(These are actually J.Crew but they are identical! )

We have a great day today, and tomorrow we are taking the dogs to the beach! It should be a great day.


I've been seeing a lot of metallic in the stores and I love the idea of it in the home. ie metallic leather pillow

Antique Vintage

Me and mom went to the flea market to find some treasures for her jewelry line and for me just to have. I found a really sweet 24k gold plated seahorse! For $3 it was mine, I just need to add a long chain.

We also stopped by the antique store and I fell deeply in love with a gorgeous cameo ring from the 1920.It looked gorgeous on...but I didn't fall in love with the $325 price tag.

Hope everyone is doing well and having a lovely Sunday. I'm kind of on vacation at home here so I almost can't remember what day it is. Ha.