fan-hoot-tastic

having worked for years as a fashion buyer, one of my old friends, caroline, has turned her hand to children’s fashion. after becoming a mum and trying the stay at home thing for a bit – she found she was getting itchy for another challenge. et voila!! – hootkid was born! no that’s not the name of her third child – it’s the name of her new online store for children’s clothes.

quality clothing for your little mates – unique styling and reasonable prices. what more could mums want? hootkid really does take shopping for the lovely littlies to the next level. caroline travels the globe to source cute, fun threads. she was always a girl of style and unique sensibilities. with her background in fashion, she has managed to tweak the hootkid collection to achieve that excellent blend of wearable, durable kids clothes with an up to the minute edginess.

my pic is this gorgeous t-shirt with simple paint your love print – only $24.95!!

so do your kids a favour and check it out now.

happy shopping, hootkids!

http://www.hootkid.com/

 

 

 

la double denime

David Beckham looking oright

it’s the BIG question. it’s the eternal dilemma. people across the globe have been asking the question since (fashion)time began, maybe even before that…whenever that was.

 

it’s a highly debated topic and people will not tire of seeking out the truth about such highly controversial matters. i think the debate may have emerged around 2009 when we saw a resurgence for denim doubling. the look was controversial from the get go.

 

it does make good sense to want the two-pronged denim approach to work. after all, we all have a few pairs of jeans and we all probably own a denim jacket or two. so why not suit up and head out? it can certainly work…take becks there…not bad? works for him – even with that scowl, right?

 

successful denim duo champions include the likes of kate bosworth, anne hathaway, charlize theron, alexa chung and kanye west. serious fashion types – writers, bloggers, stylists –  have decided they support the double-up. they declare that we should take their  ‘denensembles’ and go forth and replicate.

 

like anything there are a list of rules to be followed. the regulations state -

• always utilise a darker denim on the lower half and a light denim on the upper
•  no belts
• chambray is not denim
•  no cowboy accessories.

(phew) we certainly can’t have renegade pairing going on unsupervised. but the real question is - does the two tiered denim outfit work on us, the everyday jack and jill? my good pal ‘jill’ was down from sydney recently and she is adamant it was ok to work the jeans and the jacket together. she went on to purport that perhaps uni-denim wearers could be accused of being conservative, boring and (gasp) SUBURBAN.

and that’s my worst nightmare. so i promised her i was going to try it – for fear of becoming the suburban fashion island i have always dreaded.

 here she is cheering on the plight of la double denime…

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

so what do you think?

i woolly love this

just discovered these plant hangers… you can create an instant vertical garden. my office has invested in a few of them and I can’t wait for them to be installed. I love that they are neat and precise little pockets, but that what they hold inside, can spill out and tumble across the wall so wondrously.

the ‘pockets’ are made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles, and they feel a bit like a heavy felt fabric. This one’s called “Wally”!

i can’t wait to get some for home.

http://www.woollypocket.com/gallery/view/wally/

flavour punch

it was my birthday last week and my lovely friend nellie decided it was a good chance to get together with my old uni pals. so we headed down to the effervescent chin chin on flinders lane – a short stroll from my place of employ.

i got there early and sat perched at the bar with a full view of the place. it is a great vantage point to watch the crowd assemble –  and what a crowd!

 

chin chin is a hive of activity. ordered and comfortable and jam-packed.

but i want to cut to the chase and not talk about the raw interior, the hand crafted edge or the friendly and very cool staff. I want to talk about the FOOD. two words. flavour punch.

chef andrew gimber just nails it. i have eaten at quite a few established and hip restaurants around melbourne. mostly i enjoy the meal and sometimes the experience makes it a memorable one too. but its rare that i leave feeling full, happy, surprised and excited.

we ordered the banquette menu and did not regret it. even when we thought that we couldn’t fit any more in, we forged ahead and tasted it all. sensational. the food is full of flavour. exciting delicious and wonderful flavour. your taste buds will dance the tango and not rest.

corn fritters with chilli jam, marinated kingfish (OMG to die for), crab salad, barbecued goat, an aromatic take on the massamancurry…to name but a few of the highlights we tried. The menu is enormous but don’t stress. chin chin is open late – so if you don’t get to try it at lunch, there’s always dinner, or late night munching…and you WILL want to go back again and again.

i’ll certainly be back. i’m just so happy that its close to work – lunchtimes are looking livelier than they’ve been in years.

 thank you chin chin

 thanks also to http://www.venue.net.au/local/by-your-chinny-chin-chin/ for the image

the house my friend built…

i have some interesting and inspired mates. they create things… one of these friends just finished building her second house. it’s very cute. a bit like a treehouse. in fact it sits right next to an existing tree and seems to project out from it – like a part of it!

it’s basically a split level L shaped plan but with a small upper level that my friend calls ‘the tower’. from this vantage point you can glimpse the ocean. my friend tells me it’s where she goes to sit and relax - away from the chaos that can sometimes exist in a house full of boys… it’s the only room upstairs. it is small and secluded, but with a distant ocean view. i imagine her sitting up there scheming her next building…dreaming of times gone by and of things to come…

you can imagine children have designed this place. except that whilst it is playful, it is precise and refined. the boxes are neat. split levels work to create large volumes within. the choice of cladding is judicious. all timber - ship lapped end matched cypress – rough face forward…simplistic boxy forms but with a little ‘tower’ that sits twisted from the main axis.

it’s by no means perfect. there are some very small things that maybe an architect (or a bigger budget) could have smoothed out some interior finishes. but these are very small things and in the scheme of things, matter not. and to be fair – my friend built this inspiration on a very tight budget. she should be making a tonne of money working for a developer. creating high impact on a small budget is a sought after skill. but let’s be clear – there is nothing ‘flash in the pan’ about her design. i think we’ll be appreciating this building for years to come. there is a timeless quality about it.

 she lives here with her husband and two naughty boys. they have moulded the surrounding land into a haven for the boys – complete with mini tree house and flying fox. the land undulating around the house. it looks like a scene from a fairytale. and what could be more fun than that?

this house is a living breathing entity. my friend and her family live here; they play and relax and dream.

this is what residential architecture should aspire to.

wonderful creations

……architecture must be the destination of a carefully navigated path through a set of constraints – site specifics, environmental factors and the time taken to deliver the end result. intellectual rigour must be applied to architecture – in order that a consistent, considered result is delivered. without ‘vision’, you only create the everyday. so to make something truly wonderful, truly inspired, the vision will guide the creator and ensure that the creation holds true to itself. a sense of whimsy will take any creation and lift it up into the clouds, allowing us to dream about it. and we all like to dream…

here’s my family at legoland…creating and dreaming