Spring, Sprung... I'm done!!

(photo from the project that has been keeping me so busy!)

Sakes alive!

It feels like forever since I've taken a moment to update my blog.

To be perfectly honest, it has been a side effect of writing so many stories for the summer issue of Holiday. 

I was "typed out."

But I am on a "pseudo break:"

I am focusing my week on cleaning my house, picking up things to put in my children's Easter baskets.

Because you know that teenage boys are so big on that! hah!

Thank goodness Sophie is till little; she loves Easter!

Today we decorated the house for the holiday and if it wasn't freezing out I would feel like spring is truly here!

Utah was wonderful!

(Can you believe those mountains?!!)

Meeting Stephanie Nielson and her sisters was amazing.

Stephanie is so  kind and warm and has a quiet humor about her.

I think she was quiet because she was so exhausted by her week. She had spent the days preceding our visit being interviewed and filmed by Elizabeth Vargas for 20/20. It is airing some time in May, I think.

I also got to have a chat with Courtney, aka CJane.

She is every bit as funny and charming as she appears on her blog and vlogs. I had to tell her that I love her writing. Because I do. It is killer!

Before I went to Utah I made a pit stop at Matthew Mead's studio to shoot my story.

We had some great laughs at how some of my photos turned out.

You had to be there, I know, but I can be seriously unphotogenic.

It's why I don't load my blog with photos of myself.

Well, except for my fan photos, above!

Here is a very small sneak peek at my story. It involves a few of the traditions I have carved out with my kids for summer.. It is truly "me" and I love that. 

I have also been doing a lot of Zumba lately, to counteract the fact that I am on my rear-end, sitting at my computer so much. 

I LOVE it!

I can't believe I have finally found an exercise I enjoy.

I look like a dork doing it but I pretend I don't.

I have yet to find a pair of workout pants that don't fall down, though.

I even sprang for some Lululemon pants, but they manage to inch their way down, too.

And they are stupidly expensive. But Sophie thinks I'm cool, so that is worth something, right?

So I figure I burn a few extra calories by tugging at my pants as I dance/exercise.

You know, to hide my stomach...

And I am still afraid of my new camera.

I went from someone who took oodles of pictures to someone who never picks it up.

Isn't that stupid?

Why, yes. Yes, it is.

So, I am thinking of making a departure from my usual Easter dinner and recreating the luncheon that Matthew served Stephanie and her sisters. It was dee-licious!! Not that I got to taste anything. I was too busy schlepping stuff and being a good styling assistant. Believe me, there is nothing glamorous about assisting on a shoot. But it is FUN! I still have to pinch myself that I get to meet the people I do and be part of something I have always dreamed about.

Speaking of meeting people: When we were in Provo, we wre invited to dinner at the home of the amazing, renowned photographer, David Meredith. David has shot so many features for a multitude of well-known shelter magazines (including Country Home) and has photographed many of the gorgeous home interiors shots for Anthropologie.

Like this one:

And these ones:

His home was amazing and he and his wife made the most delicious meal...the mushroom soup and beef tenderloin...well, I still think about them and wish for that soup recipe! 

David is a true jet-setter, flying across the country non-stop to photograph projects for Barbara Barry, Diane von Furstenburg, and Anthropologie, among many others. He and his wife and Matthew and Jenny had a great time catching up and sharing stories about work and the people they know while I ate as slowly as I could (didn't want to reveal my true self) and took it all in.

It was truly a fun but tiring trip!

Phew!

Long-winded much?

I do promise to check in more frequently.

I have a giveaway I'd like to do (and I don't do them often!) and some more news to share.

If you hung in for this entire monologue then hats off to you and I am grateful that anyone still comes here!

I have missed the interaction this blog gives me, but I have been peeking in on you.

And yes, I am bad not to comment as often as I should, so don't feel like you should comment on my rambling post!!

Now, back to sneaking chocolate eggs from my stash!!

The Millswyn

Yesterday I enjoyed a fabulous girls' lunch at The Millswyn, my second since it opened only a few months ago. Located opposite the Botanic Gardens, & site of the once infamous formal dining institution, Lynches, it has been completely reinvented with new soul & energy & is absolutely divine. It is testament to a brilliant design interpretation between owner/entrepreneur, Davis Yu, & renowned interior design team, Hecker Guthrie. Working with a neutral base palette, the detail in the fittings & fitout also reveal an appreciation for Scandinavian design & New York style.

The service was both efficient & enthusiastic, & the food a perfect Saturday menu of gourmet delights. We lingered longer over wine & coffee, savouring the atmosphere of the cocktail bar & the music in a very understated, relaxed & welcoming ambience at this fabulously chic new dining establishment. Now, to organise dinner...

The Millswyn

http://www.themillswyn.com.au/

Holiday Solitude...

Autumn, my very favourite season. Whether Easter or a cosy weekend away, a coastal retreat is my ideal getaway as the nights get cooler, the leaves change. Fresh sea air, sleeping, reading, movies, no time restraints. Brunch at all hours, walks along the beach, a picnic with friends...I'm looking forward to relaxing & enjoying a few simple pleasures, to re-energise & have time to do little that we all need to find.

Sure Signs of Spring...

 

(all photos from summer 2010)

A couple of weeks ago, we had snowbanks almost as tall as me. And then, magically, it disappeared virtually overnight, revealing brownish-green grass and little deposits from my cats dotted about the lawn. The handyman hauled out his super-duper extending ladder:

 

~ the one we use to rescue cats and shoes off the roof ~

...and finally took down the holiday wreaths from the peaks of our home.

We were "that kind" of household this year. 

The kind you drive by and remark, "Those people should have taken down their wreaths by now!"

Yep; we broke many rules on the ladder to classiness.

And I could care less. I don't know what's gotten into me. 

But I have attempted a little spring cleaning. Living room slip covers got washed and I cleaned one shelf of my fridge. The downstairs slipcovers are so full of cat hair you could make an ugly sweater, and my onions are growing onion, but hey: I could care less. For now.

Because I know as the days get longer and the grass turns greener and my cats leave deposits in my flower beds instead of the snow, I will catch spring fever. And scrub my house from top to bottom and browse decorating magazines and all of your lovely blogs. And I have a LOT in my reader!

And then the handyman is in serious trouble.

Because then I start thinking of projects we can do.

Which means he can build and I can paint.

And I stumbled upon the photo of my patio makeover last spring (photo above) and it reminded me that sooner than later we will be eating breakfast outside and I will be hanging clothes on the line everyday. And the birds (or hornets) will return to my birdhouse atop my clothesline post. And I will begin receiving squirrel remains on my front step each day from my least admired cat. And we will put our porch swing and I will play hooky one day and spend the entire afternoon on that same swing and read a book almost cover to cover.

Because I can do that if I really like the book.

Can't you?

And I will wonder if every person who drives by will think I am incredibly lazy or just really smart.

Hurry up Spring!!

Excitement in the wings...

 

I don't know about you, but I have been kind of buried under a snowbank the last few months. Yes, the snow is ridiculously high, but the days, too, have seemed  brutally long despite nightfall arriving just as we finish up dinner. So what have I been up to? Well, I have finished writing 144 pages of a gardening magazine (Container Gardening 2011) and gained experience writing everything from the table of contents to the final page. To be honest, I don't think I will even so much as read a plant tag this summer. Full sun, partial shade...I don't care. The magazine, however, is gorgeous and is certainly leagues above any gardening magazine I have laid eyes on! Of course, Matthew Mead shot and produced every story; so how can you go wrong?

The other day, I went for a walk with a good friend and we both felt a spring in our step as the sun shone stronger than it has in months. I could feel its warmth lift me out of the winter doldrums and we chatted about spring fashions and the return of brighter days with nightfall arriving when it should. I look forward to spring cleaning (really!) and clearing the cobwebs from my home and my head.  And although we won't be heading anywhere exciting as a family this March break, I do have an upcoming trip to Utah to look forward to!

Last June when we shot Stephanie Nielson's family at Smeeks (in Arizona), we did not get the opportunity to meet her. While we filled her children and their friends with generous doses of sugar, she lay in a hospital bed battling a painful recovery from yet another major surgery. When she emailed me, fretting like only a mother does about whether her children had their hair combed and if we needed anything and how sad she was that she was missing out on the experience, I wrote back and reassured her that she would be front and center at the next one...that Matthew had big plans for her for the next (this summer's) issue. And here we are: this March we will head to Provo and photograph Stephanie and her sisters (yes, Courtney, too!) for a very special entertaining feature. And I cannot tell you what it means to me to finally be able to meet her, give her a hug and tell her just how much she inspires me everyday with her spirit, courage and determination to regain  and redefine her life. My words will be nothing she hasn't heard before, but it means so very much to me to be able to say them. Can you believe she is skiing again??

Oh, and you can bet I will need to step up my wardrobe in anticipation of meeting the uber stylish Stephanie and sisters! Three more weeks and I'll be there...I can't wait! And fingers crossed, when I return it should be nice enough to hook up the porch swing for those April days when it is not raining!

Slip Slidin' Away...

 Life is so much more fun when you're a child. 

I didn't have the courage to go down that hill even once.

I am officially stodgy.

I really am...

Isn't my baby pretty?

 Her friends are pretty cute, too!

Saw a pretty funny (and fitting!) sign outside a church yesterday. 

It read, "Whoever is praying to God for snow, please stop!!"

Amen to that. 

The snowbanks at the end of my driveway are too tall for me to see over.

Are you jealous?

Does anyone else feel like they're living out the movie, Groundhog Day?

I just finished writing an entire gardening magazine. I am going out to our "big mall" to celebrate.

Sophie needs new gloves. She wore out her other ones.

Snow, much?

Iris' Holiday Heaven...

Like so many Nancy Meyers' fans, I adore her style & appreciation for beautiful furnishings & focal pieces. For those of us who embrace romantic comedies, complete with stunning set design,The Holiday is the perfect movie (yes, I too watched it once again tonight, & loved it even more!).

Timeless, Hamptons influence, belgian interior colour palettes & the perfect balance of natural materials against the sophisticated blend of texture & space threads throughout "Amanda's" home in this always feel good title.

Together with 'It's Complicated' & 'Something's Gotta Give', 'The Holiday' completes a visual feast of sophisticated, yet understated & timeless interior design, but echoes warmth & comfort from every aspect...set design made for home...