248/365 These Instagram Days

Some recent moments through my instagram lens. 

Are we insta-friends yet?? Come and say hello to me! 

Amber. XO

100/365 Celebrating 100!

I made it to 100!!

I'm a little surprised and a lot impressed with myself. Lol.
That's a bit telling isn't it - yes, I often get excited about big projects but managing to see them through is always harder than one expects.

So here is photo 100 of my 365 #photoaday2014 project.

And a big thank you to everyone who has been so lovely and so supportive.

Yippee! Now, there's just that small issue of the next 265 days. Lol ;)
And yes, I celebrated with cake. Baklava to be precise. And God-damn it was good! x

13/365 Casa dei Bambini 2014

One of my personal dreams came true today... 

I found myself standing in the very room where Maria Montessori started her first Casa dei Bambini, or Montessori Children's House, here in the ghetto of San Lorenzo, Rome, 107 years ago. 

It was something I had daydreamed about, wished for, but something I felt rather certain wouldn't actually happen. But it did... it really DID! 

Ha! So seriously cool :))

I was even able to take some photos - yes, more than just this buzzer ;) - but I was nervous and trying to be respectful as it is still a working Montessori classroom. We leave Rome in the morning and have a lot of travelling ahead of us so I will post them with more of an explanation when I have the time to gather my thoughts.

But I had to share now. Blessed!

When things don't go as planned...

I've been MIA.

All my best laid plans - my juice-healing, our travel planning and house pack-up, my camera repairs, my blogging, even school... EVERYTHING - has been on hold because Hug continued to be unwell.

No measure of optimism can sway things sometimes. 

Some things just don't go as we planned.

It's been four weeks since he started feeling bad (primarily it's excruciating stomach pain). After a myriad of doctors appointments and rounds of tests we ended up spending four nights in hospital, finally coming home last night.

I am forever grateful to the people who choose to work as doctors and nurses (and all of the other varied but no less important roles) on a children's ward. It is a hard thing to let someone else take a portion of responsibility for your child's health into their own hands but even more amazing that people are willing to accept that grand responsibility.

And, as hard as this has been for our whole family, I have been completely humbled in this experience by the knowledge that one of closest friends is also nursing a very sick child right now - a little girl who has been far sicker and has a far greater recovery to make than Hug. I am in awe of their strength and the perspective that this has brought me.

So, we are home. And we have 5 days til we fly. 

Oh man.

The house is a disaster-zone (though I have to give thanks to my own mama who came and helped pack up some boxes in the kitchen today!) and I still have a design job to finish (eeeeek) and to be completely honest I'm a bit frazzled... I just burnt the soup I was reheating as I type this. Whoops.

But, what can I say... Hug is starting to feel better! And that's my number one goal. He's not back to his usual robust self yet, he still has some pain and is a bit miserable, but I think he's going to be good. We've had the all clear to fly with him (even yesterday I wasn't sure that was going to be possible) and I'm guessing my wildly optimistic and busy plans for our first two weeks in London may have to be dampened but this is certainly the best-case scenario right now.

A big thanks to everyone who sent love and good wishes on my FB page. Your kindness filled my heart even in the most frustrating moments.

So, here's to acknowledging that the universe is bigger than we are. 
And to brighter days ahead! 

I'll try and post again in the next fews days but otherwise I'll see you in London :) A. x

White on white. Colour therapy.

I have been loving my morning bed-ins these holidays.

Time to linger.

Which is just what I need right now.

Yesterday I felt inspired to capture it on camera.

Welcome to white on white.

This mama has a secret. White is my favourite colour. 
Followed by rainbow.

White keeps me sane. But open the cupboard and colour is my fun :)

In case there is any confusion, white is officially a colour. Wikipedia says:

White is the color the human eye sees when it looks at light which contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum, at full brightness and without absorption.

Doesn't that sound awesome?

What kind of relationship do you have with colour? A. x

p.s. You can tell I have been inspired by Rachel Ashwell can't you ;) 

What's in my bag... packing light trial #1.

I think I can comfortably say that this has always been a lifestyle blog. 

Of course it's also very-much an edu blog but I have always talked about more than just home/school. This year I hope to continue to extend that reach; to talk about travel, design, food, fashion and more. I hope that is as exciting to you as it is for me. Smile. 

Today's post continues a discussion about packing light!

If you've been reading the blog you will know that we are heading off on a big family trip later this year. Six months on the road. With just the bags on our backs (or *cough* wheeling beside us ;)

My goal... to pack lightly with style!

A month or so ago I escaped from family-life for a weekend away with my best friend and worked quite strategically to think about our bigger trip when I packed. I wasn't checking my luggage so I could only take one carry on bag and my tote. My tote is a gorgeous Kate Spade number that T bought for me when he went to New York without us last year. Yes, I just italicised that ;) but, really,  it was for work and he went with my blessings - and went to Kate Spade especially for me - so I forgive him this one time. Lol.

It's a great bag and in many ways perfect for traveling to Europe but it's one flaw is that it doesn't have a top zip. Talking to myself: Do I need a lockable day-bag instead?

Anyway, I want to show you what I carry in here because, well,  I know I like to see what other people carry in their handbags and maybe you do too!

The photo above shows my iPhone (white case), iPad (black cover), my purse for cards and money, glomesh purse for extra small things like lipgloss and hairbands, and just disappearing out of shot - a small notebook (I also carry a thin sharpie and a retractable pencil cos I love them) and collapsible shopping tote.

For jewellery I just took a little fabric gift bag.

My apple and bee purse safely holds my earbuds in case I want to listen to music.

Gratuitous glomesh photo :) #loveglomesh

I trialled a collapsible water bottle that we had picked up at Kathmandu and loved it.

Also, from Kathmandu, packing cells. Genius.  

I took a medium packing cell for my clothes (for 4 days):  1 x jeans / 3 x dresses / 2 x skirts / 1 x black leggings / pjs / linen cami / 3 x t-shirts / V-neck knit / 2 x cardigans / belt / dress jacket. This all fit in the medium cell excluding the outfit I was wearing of course. I don't generally travel naked as a rule ;)

A cell tube was the perfect solution for my ghd straightener and a pair of heels (this was after all a girly weekend!).

Aaaaaaaand... I did happen to buy 3 pairs of shoes. Hence there were 5 pairs of shoes to pack on my return. Whoops!

A small clear cell for my underwear.  These come in a set of 3. Very cute. I realise now that I haven't included my toiletries bag in this post but that's because there's another post coming up just about makeup and toiletries, but yes, I had one of those packed too. Including this cute toothbrush!

It all went in here. My carry-on. T takes it on all of his own adventures so it gets a lot of love (read: wear).

Finally, my camera bag. This didn't quite fit into the carry-on (maybe it was all the shoes ;) and is bulky in the tote. I'm dreaming of getting a compact DSLR before we travel. But dreaming it may just be...

And last but not least I grabbed a few little presents for the sweet-ones-back-home at the airport. 

Voila!

So, obviously this ain't quite enough stuff for six months... but I'm hoping it's not far off it to be honest. For my personal items at least. Inspired by Bea at Zero Waste Home I am planning on minimising my wardrobe but we will be heading into a European winter so I will need extra layers. 

What are your travel essentials and what do you do without? Please let me know and also let me know if you enjoyed this post! xx

Manly!

That last post left things on a bit of a downer didn't it! 

I actually had a great weekend. Which is, I'm sure, the reason for this mornings glum-fest.

Wanna see some of my photos?

I was met at the airport by my bff and we headed out for lunch straight away.
Destination: Manly. 

I haven't spent much time there since I was a child so it was kind of like rediscovering it for me. I liked it.

Celebrating the end of my 7 day detox with a glass of champagne. Eeeek!

And lots of WATER.

Stormy skies but ever so pretty.

 We moved inside when it got too windy outside. Loving this cushion collection.

My best friend C.

I love her to bits. And she - she loves her phone. Lol. But then, *cough* so do I . 

We are a good match :) #iphonejunkiesunite

 I had the roast beetroot and goats cheese salad.

AND I managed the willpower to abstain from eating C's chips with her. Phew. 

 Manly harbour. 

Coffee at Max Brenner. My first caffeine / chocolate / dairy hit in 7 days. 

Oh! And this is the reason for my trip >> tickets for Ed Sheeran. Most exciting.

The concert was AMAZING by the way! Have you seen him perform??!

Hello. Self-portrait.

Hello. Hi.

There you are. Here I am.
I wanted to slip from behind the camera for a moment and say hello.

I just found this photo on my camera roll - from a beautiful afternoon a few weeks back when the late afternoon sunshine was lighting up our bedroom like it was some kind of byzantine cathedral.

Self-portrait.

January 2013. 

Do you remember to photograph yourself?

Winter blossoms make my heart sing

A surprise!

Wow.

I just noticed that sometime last week my visitor counter jumped over to 26,000 + visitors. I feel very blessed - and amazed! - especially as the counter wasn't there from the beginning & I was (mostly) awol for almost a year and a half.

Feeling the LOVE and all the appreciation that that brings.

So, a huge *Thank You* to all the lovely folks who do read my blog :)  I have big plans and some new ideas in the works - alongside the new redesign which is kinda still in the mix - which I look forward to sharing with you.

With Love, A. x

Holidays :)

We are off for a little holiday! I have a few posts scheduled & will be back in a week :) Happy days!

More Love

Just released this week: the Matt Goss single, 'Evil'. Yes, not very 'rainbow-mama'... but there's a lot of history there!