connection hic ups

Happy little toothpick man at Vue de Monde, Melbourne

After getting enthused about blogging again, I hit a road block. That is, one tiny thing was no longer available to me. That's right...no internet. After fighting with a telecon/internet provider for 3 weeks it's finally here. {Yes, I realise it sounds like I'm constantly fighting with faceless corporations. It's NEVER my fault, I swear}.

Anyway, I'm {almost} back on track...Can't figure out how to have the phone and internet connected at the same time but it's all good. Baby steps...

Wedding status: bridal shoes BOUGHT; menu tasting BOOKED; guest list FINALISED; bride starting to stress that there's only 3 1/2 months until the 'big day' TICK. Ooh, I also have a make up trial this weekend {fingers crossed I will love it - I don't think I can bear dealing with another person}

House status: only weeks after moving in, discovered a tree is blocking my pipes and causing me hell. Front yard has been an excavation site for 3 weeks. Had a fight with Sydney Water about who should pay the gargantuan bill for this {actually, wasn't a real fight; more like a kind but firm man telling me I had no hope and me sobbing into the mobile...all while the Optus dude was installing my phone. Good times}. It's all good. As someone told me the other day, 'it's only money'...

Fiance living abroad status: cracks are starting {?} to show. Can't wait until my life is normal again {?}!!

I hope that life has been treating you well.

Love,
Cat x

Hello! Is there anybody in there?

My poor little blog has been abandoned for awhile. In fact, my complete online presence has pretty much disappeared. The reason for this of course is that I've been incredibly busy over the past few weeks and have literally had no time to keep you up to date. Or to find out what my blogging friends have been up to. Now that things have slowed down a bit I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone's lives.

I'll give you a bit of a snapshot of what I've been up to lately. Here goes:

1. My June photography challenge was a complete failure. I lasted 15 days only to have it fall by the wayside as I lost motivation. Does that make me a blogging failure?

2. Tetsuya's was fabulous! I wish I took some photos but it was the kind of night where I was enjoying the food, wine and great company so much that I didn't want to pause for anything. Our table was very quiet when we walked in, completely in awe of finally making it to the renowned food institution. By the end of the meal though (after 5 ½ hours, 11 courses and matching wines) we were all much more relaxed. Shamefully, I believe there was even some immature bean throwing. I'm not going to expand as I do not want to implicate anyone or make you think less of me!

3. I FINALLY finished painting my house. Six weekends and countless nights after work. Blood, sweat, tears, tantrums and about a thousand McDonald's meals later and IT'S ALL DONE! I can't emphasise how excited I am about this. Despite my grumblings, I am incredibly proud of what I and my band of workers (thanks Mum and Megan!) have completed and I feel a sense of achievement and a real sense of ownership of my house now.

4. Following on from painting the house, I've been busy moving myself and my furniture into it. More about that later because the next point is without a doubt the best thing about the past few weeks...

5. My beautiful fiance was in town for the past 10 days. He's gone back to PNG now but the time he was here was perfect. He helped move me into my house, we caught up with friends and family, cooked meals together and went to some beautiful restaurants (I probably don't need to add here that I've also put on 1000 kgs in the past week!). The only blemish to the week was a terrifying few hours where he couldn't find his baptism certificate and I was convinced that it was irreparable and that we couldn't get married at all! Needless to say, some irrationality, tiredness and emotions were at play there and I was about due for a meltdown anyway. Trav came to the rescue and you'll be pleased to know the wedding's still on.

That's a very brief summary of what I've been up to. I haven't started to mention my new couches or my op-shop bedside table find (a future work in progress). I haven't mentioned I made the beef, red wine and onion pie again or the yummy nutella and raspberry dessert (again, from Donna Hay Seasons). But I think that's enough for now. I don't want to saturate you with too much information after such long famine!

I hope you are well and happy. I'd love to hear of any exciting news that you've been up to lately. Thanks for sticking by me and I'm looking forward to getting to know you again.

Love,

Cat x

Mid weekend update including choc-hazelnut cake

Firstly, thank you for all your lovely comments. I hope my work situation improves soon too or at least my attitude to it. Anyway, onto more interesting things. My weekend has been pretty manic - painting, my cousin's 16th birthday dinner, an unfruitful search for a lounge and a visit to a very special little boy. I'm having a quiet night tonight in preparation for another mammoth day tomorrow.

Here are my photos for my June photo challenge:

Day 12, photo 12 Chocolate & Hazelnut Ice Cream Cake

This is such an easy cake to make and an all round crowd pleaser. I've included the recipe if you're interested. It's from Recipes+ magazine (Jan/Feb 2008).

250g packet (6) mini chocolate rolls
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup caster sugar
220g Nutella (or other choc-hazelnut spread)
600ml thickened cream
1/3 cup roasted hazelnuts, chopped

1. Line a 22cm springform pan with plastic food wrap, extending it 5cm above the rim. Cut each roll into 6 slices. Stand a row of slices upright inside of pan at bottom edge. Use remainder to completely cover base, breaking cake as need to fill spaces.
2. Place yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until thick and creamy. Add Nutella; beat until just combined. Beat in cream, then beat mixture for 5 minutes or until thickened slightly (mixture will still be runny).
3. Pour the mixture into pan. Sprinkle with hazelnuts. Cover with more plastic wrap, making sure it does not touch filling. Freeze overnight until firm.
*Serves 10-12* *Stand dessert 15 minutes at room temperature before serving* *Refrigerate egg whites airtight up to 4 days or freeze up to 6 months* *Enjoy!*

Day 12, photo 13 Sweet Sixteen

Day 13, photo 14 Potential Dining Room Light from Freedom

Not entirely sure about this yet but it is very pretty. Think I'll wait til my dining table is actually in the house though before I make a decision.

Hope you're enjoying this beautiful long weekend and let me know if you're getting up tomorrow morning for the World Cup game. It will be nice to know I have some company! Go Australia!!!

Love,
Cat x

(home) inspiration for living (rooms)

I need an incentive to go on. Something to motivate me to keep painting, wall by wall, room by room. Here are some lovely living rooms to inspire, motivate and generally drool over.

Image from Live Creating Yourself

I'm not sure where this image came from - if you know please let me know

Image from Ish and Chi

Enjoy.

Cat x

painting and lemons

My body is at breaking point. I can barely lift my arms, my back is stiff and I am so sleepy. A days worth of painting can really take it out of you! And I've scheduled another day tomorrow. I am happy to say we finished all the ceilings today. Not bad for an all girl team. I felt very 'I am woman, hear me roar' today!

Today's picture is of some lemons that my next door neighbour gave me. The first neighbour I've met and she seems lovely. Hopefully it's a positive sign of things to come.

Day 5, photo 5 lemons from my next door neighbour

I'm just waiting for my lift to arrive. I'm heading out with my bestie (and my M.O.H) for some dinner at a yummy, local Italian restaurant (La Rumbla - check it out if you're in the area, you won't be disappointed).

I hope you're having a lovely weekend.

Cat x

Home inspiration...more bedrooms

Hello my sweets,

I hope you've had a lovely weekend. I wanted to share some more beautiful bedrooms with you...I can't wait to start decorating! I'm currently still embroiled in the painting process, which is going ok although it's taking longer than I thought. Can you believe the previous owners painted over blue tac and sticky tape? Crazy!
Anyway, these bedrooms inspire me and motivate me to continue with the painting process...Enjoy :)

{Images from Brabourne Farm, Me and Alice and Live Creating Yourself}

Cat x

It's raining, it's pouring...

Image from We Heart It

...and I've got a day of painting ahead of me...

Wish me luck!

Cat x

I'm in pain!

Owwwww!!!! I am in a world of pain. After two days of washing, sanding, taping, cutting and painting, I am exhausted! My arms are sore, my knees are bruised and I'm struggling to stand upright as my back is stiff but I feel satisfied. I was very anxious about painting my house, especially as I had no idea what I'm doing but I feel much more confident now. I'm also very grateful to my generous family and friends that have been helping me out. There's still a lot to do but it doesn't seem so daunting now.

I also chose my dining table and chairs today. Remember I mentioned I saw a set that I liked (here)? Well I went to check it out today and it wasn't exactly how I imagined. It was a bit too rustic for my liking. After going to a number of stores I ended up finding one at Freedom. It's more modern than what I originally wanted but I am happy with the result. Plus the delivery date will motivate me to finish painting before it arrives.

Morgan Dining Table from Freedom

Empress Dining Chair from Freedom

I hope you've had a lovely weekend and that you have a great week.

Love,
Cat x

Home inspiration (dining table)

Image from In My House

You know that feeling when you dream of something you want and then you realise you might just get it? That's exactly how I feel! I love the above dining table and was wistfully dreaming about it while trying to convince myself it would be ok if I didn't get something exactly like it. Well, I don't have to worry...I came home from work tonight to find the Everyday Living catalogue on our kitchen table. Casually leafing through it, what do I find?...

Sorry about the poor quality image

Ta da! Exactly what I want! I'm heading straight to Everyday Living on Sunday to purchase the dining table and chairs. Yay!! It will be my first purchase for my new home :)

Cat x

Home inspiration (main bedroom)

I'm exhausted! I thought weekends were meant to be relaxing?? A housewarming party on Friday night (where I picked up some decorating tips off my tres chic friend); my first ever trip to Bunning's on Saturday (my goodness, I could get lost in there) followed by a night out on the town with my beautiful cousins; then today, along with a convoy of the MOB (Mother of the Bride), two aunties and three cousins, went to see my gorgeous bridesmaid dresses, have a yummy (and big!) lunch, then take them to see my new house...Phew! Luckily I managed to throw in a couple of naps to maintain my energy levels.

I'm going to leave you with some pictures of some beautiful and inspirational bedrooms. I was toying with the idea of a black and white main bedroom although I think it might be too harsh and overpowering for the size of the room. I think I'll stick to my original plan to have a fairly neutral pallet. I absolutely love the chandelier in the first picture and would also like to use a headboard to give some definition to the bed and add interest to the neutral wall.

Image 1 from Boat Shed Chic
I can't seem to work out where I found the other two images from. If you know, please let me
know so I can credit them properly...note to self: be more careful next time!

Let me know what you think. Have you got pictures of neutral colour schemes you think would inspire me? If so, please email me (catarina18@hotmail.com) - I could use all the help I can get!

Love,
Cat x

Going once, going twice...

going three times...SOLD!

I recently made the biggest purchase of my life, a three bedroom house. And today I got to pick up the keys!!

Nonno and Mum came with me to celebrate with Ricadonna and some bikkies. Hopefully the first of many celebrations in my new house :-)

I'm organising a working bee to get all the painting done and then it will be straight onto decorating and moving in...hopefully all before Travis' next visit in July.

Watch this space :-)


Love,
Cat x

A new kid on the blog

Hi there,

My name's Cat and I live in Sydney, Australia. Welcome to my first ever blog entry!

I never thought I'd be the kind of person who blogs about my life. Afterall, why would anyone be interested in little ol' me? I am the kind of person who does love to keep a record of things though. I keep all my tickets and photos are very important to me. My hopeless memory means I need all the help I can to remember things.

Upon realising just how big a year 2010 is going to be for me, I thought it would be a good idea to amalgamate all my little notebooks, scrapbooks, post-it notes and snap shots into this...an online record of all the trials, tribulations, love, laughter, joy and heartache I know is ahead of me.

The biggest event planned for this year is the wedding. The Wedding. Our Wedding. On 4 December 2010, my fiance Travis and I will officially be bound to each other for the rest of our lives. I can't wait :)

I love this pic of us - it was taken from my laptop the morning after our engagement party.

Our situation is a little unusual at the moment as Trav's just moved to Papua New Guinea for work. So, as well as plannning our wedding, I've also got the additional challenge of missing my fiance terribly. It's his first job as a pilot and the the plan is to stick out the seperation until our wedding. Then we can reevaluate the situation.

2010 is also going to be the year I finally get into the property market. I've been saving for years and April is my target month to purchase my first home. Very exciting! Then comes the part I'm most excited about...decorating!!

Just in case I thought I wasn't busy enough (and to prevent myself going mad from boredom and loneliness), I've also started making and selling my own jewellery.



As you can see I'm going to be a very busy girl! Thanks for starting this journey with me. I hope you'll help me out with advice and comments as I could always do with some extra help. Enjoy and stay tuned... :)