the new additions to our garden

from left to right: a baby chilli plant (for the man), a ready to cut and cook up basil plant, another baby basil plant (i need two because i eat so much basil! i love it!), two cherry tomato plants and a bunch of carrots, and last but not least a full sized tomato plant.

and here they are getting comfy in their new spots :) oh and some seasol fertiliser in an old milk bottle-gone-water can (who needs a fancy watering can when you can reuse old house items??) the carrots and tomatoes aren't in as yet because i'm waiting on some more good soil and sugar cane mulch to build up the garden bed since it's sunk about a foot over winter!
(don'tcha just love my daggy-but-ever-so-slightly-cute floral gardening gloves? courtesy of mum's store... love that place)

here's my beautiful basil, close up. i've already nicked some leaves for tonights dinner :) yuuuuum!!

x

saturday seconds - vintage leather boots

the first thing i did when i got home (once i had had a good cuddle session with my kitty, my puppy and my mum... and then a shower) was go second hand shopping with my mum. seems a little odd, but i'd been hanging out for a good thrift since i came across some vintage stores in a marketplace in japan (and let's be honest, i'm totally addicted to second hand stores... it's like treasure hunting!), so it was extra satisfying to start browsing the shelves of pre-loved goodies in the thrift stores i visited.
today however, i made a vintage thrifting find that i am really extra chuffed with. a lot of the time, i just go to charity stores, so the goodies i get, while being second hand, usually aren't that old. this time, however, i took myself to a vintage store near my house which is totally reasonably priced! (considering that the 'v' word is like saying the 'w' word... once it's 'vintage', or for a 'wedding', the price tags skyrocket).

and i found these babies...

 

vintage leather calf height boots! oh how i love them!!
i love the pocket detail and the buckle at the top of the back seam. and what made it so sweet was that they cost me $25...
what is amazing is that they are in perfect condition, all i had to do was put in a pair of insoles.

 **UPDATE!**

the boots first outing :)

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my first wedding goodies purchase (from a second hand store, of course!)

i have been keeping my eye out for goodies for the wedding, things like possible table decorations (vases, port glasses to be made into votive candles, etc), practical things (plates, glasses, cutlery) and other bits and pieces (material for decorations, table cloths, etc) in second hand stores since i got engaged. here are the first ones i've found that i had to buy. i haven't actually decided what they are going to be yet (i was thinking of maybe making a cookie stand out of them for the dessert table?) but they match the colour theme i am aiming for and really have that vintage feel :)

wow, it's kind of beginning to seriously hit home that i am getting married (you'd think that the ring on my left hand would have tipped me off, but i actually think it made it all the more fairytale-esque in my head). of course i've been doing a lot of day dreaming about all the details, but now that i have something that i can physically touch that has no other purpose than to be used on the day it's making my heart jump a little!

oh, and you'll probably also notice one of my little creatures in the top left of the picture. whenever i get the camera out they seem to do their best to be everywhere i point it!


x

i'm home!

diy wedding invitation ideas

since i'm planning on doing as much of my wedding as diy as possible, i've been trawling the internet for inspiration. at the moment i'm looking at pretty much everything as our date is still over twelve months away and i've already booked the major vendors that were the most important to me, so i don't have any need to rush or focus on anything in particular. in saying that, i came across these beautiful wedding invitations while browsing one of my favourite wedding blogs, Snippet & Ink, and had one of those "that's exactly what i want" moments.

 photo from Snippet & Ink

i think that their simplicity is what makes them so beautiful.
and the best part(s) for me are, a) i love painting, b) watercolours are one of the easiest and quickest mediums to work with, c) i can totally personalise my design and still keep this diy task as reasonable to achieve, and d) i've already got a complete artists (second hand) set of water colour pencils so i'm halfway there for materials already. i was also thinking of having a stamp made to add some fine detail to the design. however i'm still completely unsure of what design the stamp will be haha.

so far the best sources of inspiration for me have been both my and my fiance's personal interests (we both love the beach and nature/natural locations, hence our ceremony and reception venue is an acerage that looks over the ocean), themes that are relevant to us (our wedding arch is going to be japanese torii gates, to represent our meeting through karate, and also torii gates traditionally mark the entrance to a sacred space which i think is a beautiful symbolic representation of entering into marriage), and our personal values (i'm an eco freak hence i am doing as much of the wedding diy as possible, including invitations, table settings, decorations, and the materials i am using are going to be second hand or eco friendly as much as possible). when i first got engaged and started looking at all things wedding just to get an idea of what is involved in planning one, my head nearly exploded with all the details, but once i got those main ideas straight, it's all started to fall into place (and i'm freaking out a lot less about the hugeness of the process!!)

x

a rainy day in japan

it's our first while we've been here, and since we are flying home in two days we've been really lucky with the weather for most of our holiday. so instead of doing the mount mitake hike we were planning for today (it's now on tomorrow) i've been browsing through the photos that have been taken so far, updating family and friends about how awesome our trip has been, and also doing some wedding things (i can't help myself!). after all the walking, train catching (read: sardine can on a track. it's insane how many people can fit into a train carriage!), sight seeing and photo taking i have to admit that even though i've loved every minute of it, it's nice to sit down for a little bit and just relax.

i will have photos up asap, after i've dived into the (literally) thousands of pictures that we've all taken so far (there's a few of us, so that's not just me going shutterbug crazy).

in the meantime, wedding invitation ideas!


x

30 for 30 day thirty!!!

oh my gosh!! last day of my challenge! and by way of fortune (or compulsory dress regulations) i had to wear a special shirt that was embroidered for the trip, as we met the mayor of the japanese city we are staying in, and toured the city.
i stuck to the rules for the rest of my outfit!

shoes (second hand store), jeans (mum's second hand store),

invisible belt (mum's wardrobe).

but check out the traditional japanese gardens we were walking through! such amazing scenery!

x

30 for 30 day twenty nine

training in japan!!! 

(jeans, slightly invisible belt and scarf - mum's 2nd hand store, singlet - old work)

first traditional japanese meal
 

i am having the most amazing time over in japan!! as i'm over here for a martial arts based holiday (i train in karate and kobudo, which is traditional japanese weaponry) i've trained at several different dojos over here, which all focus in different styles of martial arts, it's been amazing!! anyway, back to the main point of this post (day 29) this photo is after an hour and a half of training, so i'm looking the best, and i'm slightly not yet fully dressed after getting out of my karate gear, so add a jacket (second hand store) and thongs (hand-me-down) and that was day 29!

x

30 for 30 day twenty eight

shoe cheat!! i'm so guilty! and the camera was out about 30 seconds

after we got off the plane...

it's dress weather in the daytime in japan!! we had an overnight flight, so as soon as we landed i "freshened up" and got changed for the nicer weather :)

sundress and shoes (2nd hand store), white blouse and shrug (my old work).

x

30 for 30 day twenty seven

best photo ever

in the limo on the way down to the airport :)

i had to make an outfit that was going to to comfy for ten hours on a plane, but still look half decent. so i chose....

a singlet top with a white blouse (both from my old work) over the top, over black tights (mum's 2nd hand store) with thongs (hand-me-down) for shoes, for comfort. and i finished it off with my knitted shrug because it's really cute and i love it, and a scarf for some colour (both also from my old work).

and i took my karate hoodie (cotton on) to wear if it got really cold on the plane.

x