Party of 5 once again.

This is the 'Party Of Five' house, it recently sold for $6.5 Million.

LOVE this house.

My Hubby gets home today.

I have missed him so.

We are such a team its hard with out him here.

Even though he is away alot.

I LOVE the days when he comes back.

Soup is simmering on the stove.

House is clean.

All I need it to pop on a frock and go to the airport.

I cant wait to see him.

Love that man.

Bob and I

you may remember my post below about the family I have a 'major' crush on....
Well, I got a friend request on FB from Robert... Im sure this is because I fanned all hiw sites, not because he actually wanted to be my BFF or anything :)
Anyway -  I wrote him a note... just fo fun.. and because I can bee stalky at times.....hehe!

"Hi Robert, Just thought Id post a quick message, Love your book, have loved every image and page over and over again.

LOVE your family’s style! It’s so inspiring as a mother of 3 (yep only 3) and an Interior Design student, I hope to embrace design, business and life with children in the same way as you and Cortney do.... Also, have to tell you your children’s names are absolutely brilliant! As an Aussie, Love Breaker! Very cool indeed!
Do you know if your show is going to screen here in Australia. I certainly hope so.
Emily x :)"
 
AND
 
he responded ......
 
"Thx Emily..we are not sure about Australia hope so.."
 
You are very. very welcome Bob .. very, very welcome...!
Yes, Im tragic...

Road Tripping

My beautiful husband is away at the moment.. agh do I feel like a holiday as well.
While he is kicking it in Mexico, LA and currently Vegas my girlfriends and I have decided to organise a road trip... Probably to the Flinders in wildflower season. Possibly to Halls Gap in the Grampians.

Anyway - while talking about all of this an how we would accomodate ourselves we got on the topic of caravaning...

fast forward one week, I go to my local papershop and buy the lastest issue of one of my favorite mags Frankie.. (if you dont read Frankie yet, do it!) I was beside myself when they had a whole article on pretty caravans and how much fun they are.

So Im pretty much decided that I NEED one of these... they are just so beautiful and while a gypsy caravan would be equally sweet, I think these retro ones suit my needs much more...
I went online to find someone that sells them..... nup, not easy to find...

If you know of one in need of restore with a lovely shape and in good nick.. apart from cosmetics.
PLEASE let me know...

Just dreamy!!!!

Going Raw

Im slowly making the move and eating 100% raw food, I have done it on and off for the last 6 months, but I only last about 5 days before I get sick of the recipes I have mastered.
However, I have just pruchased some essential equiptment for the raw foodie..
a new juicer and a dehydrator !!! very exciting.
I thought Id share with you about it and also any recipes along the way... below is all about the lifestyle..

"The raw food vegan diet & lifestyle successfully contributes not only to optimal health creation, but is also prevalent in animal welfare and ecology, providing a sustainable and compassionate future.

A raw foods diet is made up of fresh, whole, unrefined, living, plant-based foods: fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, nuts, and seeds, which are consumed in their natural state, without cooking or steaming. People who adopt this diet are often referred to as "raw fooders" or "raw vegans."
Since the primary focus is optimal health, it is essential to understand that good health is the product of a healthy lifestyle. The raw diet is only one component. Adequate sleep, regular exercise, plenty of fresh air, water and ample sunlight, a positive outlook on life, friendship, security in life, and many other factors are also important to good health. The raw diet has no mystical properties to it, however it does provide our bodies with excellent nutrition allowing for the human body to reach its full potential"

Life Envy :)

Not often do I wish I had someone elses life... Im pretty happy, content with my lot. I love where my life has been and where its going.... most days.lol.
But I have become obsessed (yes I use that word alot) with the Novogratz  family.

Not only are they as cool as you can get.

Bob and Cortney Novogratz are the ownners of Sixx Design.. www.sixxdesign.com
They are both designers who live in NY with there family of 7 children S E V E N !! oh my, if that isnt enough the children have the most beautiful and coolest names I have ever heard...

As Bob says himself :::
1. Wolfgang (12) – named after Wolfgang Mozart (Novogratz is Austrian, as is Mozart)
2. Bellamy (11) – French name, meaning beautiful friend
3. Tallulah (11) – Cortney is from Georgia, very southern name, ie. Tallulah Bankhead
4. Breaker (9) – named after Harry Breaker Morant from the Australian movie Breaker Morant. He was a scholar, a poet, an opera singer, a soldier, and the best horseman in all of Australia (he broke all of the wild horses)
5. Five (4) - He was obviously our fifth child…
6. Holleder (4) – named after Don Holleder, an All American quarterback at West Point. He was killed in Vietnam in a very heroic act of saving his own men. He was loved by my Pops and all that new him. His guys nicknamed him Holly, and we did as well.
and newset additon
7. Major (4 months old)

I need another child, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the name Major in fact I need 7 more kids.. agh!

Anyway - I have their book 'Downtown Chic' and the pages are so divine,
soooo me! its like they styled this house for my family, I would live there in a nano-second and
not change a thing..
I have told my husband Im just going to copy there house, well try to on a less that billion dollar budget but I just love it, so many of their 'finds' are flea market, they use large scale art work which I love!!
Its so 'eclectic' and easy, it doesnt look over styled.. oh oh oh how I love it.

The family now have their own show (of course) Nine By Design .. on Bravo, no idea when it will make it to our screens, for now Im happy downloading.

The house is so cool in another way, in the design you will see random things for kids, like a swing or see saw.. of course with 7 kids this is a must but the way its done is nothing short of mindblowing.
Whats even better is they are constantly buying and renovating .. sounds familiar. love it!

I LOVE these pendant lights, Im getting some ... soon.

in this post, some pics of their NY home.... die and go to heaven.

Did I tell you I was obsessed.....

Antlers ... (new crush)

whats not to love.

On the move ... again

Im almost embaressed to say this, but over the last few months. I have had a niggle in my bones that I wanted to move house. again. We have moved house so many times, I dont even want to count anymore.
Its silly.
But, I dont love my house, we put an offer in on this house without going into it.. c r a z y !
I love where it is, I love what could be done, but I dont want to do it.

So, very cautiously I talked to my darling hubby who to my suprise was feeling the same way.
We down sized and now we want a bigger house. room to move, and room to get away from each other.
we need would like 5 bedrooms, a double garage for cars that isnt falling to pieces, and a big lovely open plan kitchen.

So now I am combing the realestate site every single day, and there is nada. nothing. diddly squat that fits the bill, we are area fussy to, mainly because the boys schools are so wonderful and we dont want them to be out of the area...

Soooo thats where its at. I have purchased boxes and masking tape and a big arse black marker.
I still had boxes I hadn't unpacked, Ill take that as a sign.

eek, still being a bad blogger

I have been so bad, I know it.

In my defense... (in point form.lol)
I have been studying and LOVING it but man its hard to fit in study, children, husband,
housework, friends and blogging.

We are having our entire house rendered and roof resealed at the moment... this equals noise. lotsa noise.

Its school holidays, I love school holidays, we havent done much of anything just hung out and walks up to the waterfall... bliss.

Im pretty pleased with myself, I havent studied properly for years, a lot of years. Im doing Interior Architecture which is a fancy name for Interior Design... I cannot tell you how much I am loving it.
LOVING IT!
Whats even more exciting is that I got a distinction and a high distinction for my first 2 assignments..
so apparently Im not as dumb as I thought I was... loving it!!

So the pics today and ones I used in my first assignment.... just for your viewing pleasure.

Thanks for being patient if your still our reading this blog.. school goes back next week and my husband goes away for 3 weeks so while Im missing that sweet man Ill have a lot of time to catch up..

Em xxoo

Gnome Love

Gnomes have long been a little thing I have loved.

When I was older than I would care to share, my sisters and I and a family friend would every night after school make 'food' for the garden gnomes my mother had dotted around our beautiful garden, I have no idea where on earth my mum found these gnomes, but they were not gaudy like some poor chaps are, they were beautifully painted, we had about 6, maybe 10?? some stood 40cm tall..
you wouldnt even know they were in our garden unless we showed you, they were hidden under bushes and in between blooming clivia.. thats what gnomes like, they dont like to be exposed....
anyway, we would make food for the gnomes, cutting up berries, lilypillys and leaves and plating them up with the up most care onto a piece of well chosen flat bark... we would do this for HOURS!! and we did it for YEARS!!
Easily amused maybe, but we had the most vivid imaginations, every day before school.. erm, yes I was that old... we would check to see if they had eaten the dinner we had left out for them the night before... and most of the time, god willing they had nibbled at the meals we had prepared......... (no, I am not a nut case, I just had a wonderful whimsical imagination)

Im not sure if the book of Gnomes came to my house as a result of my and my siblings obesssion with the guys in our garden, or if the book is what sparked our passion.. Im going to ask my mum this.. will report back.... but I have had this book in my house since I was 8 years old and I LOVE it, I remember taking the book to my Opa once and asking him if he thought they were real, and in his Dutch husky voice he said "Of course they are" - that was good enough for me!!!
I look at this book often, its always on one of our coffee tables or on a shelf, I have never put it out of reach, ever...(!!) when I was little the nudie gnomes use to make me giggle, now I love the gnome furniture and lifestyle... yes, there is a gnome lifestyle!!

My boys also love this book, we all giggle together and the tales and interesting gnomey facts inside its well worn pages.

Today we decided that we would make our reading corner into somewhat of a homage to all the gnomes.
I told my boys about my Gnome food making days and Archie LOVED the idea, Billy of course as most 12 year olds would thought I was certifiable and Oscar just kept laughing at the nudie gnomes bosoms.

We ordered some gnome fabric to make a cushion, and some prints for the corner from etsy.
Will sort out the gnome corner and get back with a picture.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter .... xxoo