204/365 Red Wine Nights

I knooowwwww I've been detoxing and eating well the past few weeks...
but sometimes it's good to say YES to drinking a little red wine with friends on a Thursday night ;)

Don't you think?
Amber. XO

My fiery heart.

Our Sunday had started with a lazy lie-in { bliss! } and bircher muesli and coffee and sunshine and plans with friends -  we were seriously on track for #bestdayever - and then, T pulled a muscle in his back :( 

Sob.

He's been working so hard and travelling so much... and missing us. And we've missed him like crazy too. And then he's here and in pain - it's just awful. Booooooo.

I asked if he wanted to stay home. But he said no. We had brunch on the beach at Wategos and in the afternoon we hit the road... friends had invited us to a bonfire on their property an hour to the south. 

It was a beautiful clear night and I planned to not take any photos because I'd been snapping through the day and sometimes it's nice to just be. The kids jumped on the trampoline and played dog-soccer and baked Danish 'bread on a stick' around the pre-bonfire pit-fire and we got to know some new people. Our friends have built { stage one of } an amazing house - it's completely inspired - a real-life Grand Design set on 40 acres of Australian bushland with kangaroos { we saw a baby 'Roo as we drove in! } and God knows what else running free?! - oh yes! - a bunch of gorgeous wild kids ;) Ours included!

Fun.

But then they lit the big fire.

And as I walked towards it and saw everyone silhouetted by the amazing fiery light... I turned around and went and got my camera. Sometimes a photographer just can't say no!! 

Night + fire is a mesmerising mix for young boys too. We didn't stay late { I wanted to get my husband home, man this one is a trooper #keepinghim } but the boys had the best time - until the marshmallow sugar-rush hit and it all went downhill fast. Hahaha.

So, here are my photos that I wasn't going to take. I hope you like them. 

When was your last bonfire / camp-fire experience?
Amber. XO

{p.s. Thanks so much to Dana and Stefan for inviting us! We can't wait to return the favour. x }

Sunday at Wategos Beach

Sunday at Wategos. 

A good Byron beach weekend recipe: Breakfasty-brunch. Friends. Coffee Van. Kayaks. Watching our salty, sandy kids play. Ahhhhhh...

Rinse and repeat.

How did you spend your weekend?

Amber. XO

How to: Hold A Lazy Afternoon Tea

Glimpses of Sunday-just-gone's lazy afternoon tea with friends { I may or may not have only gotten out of bed about an hour before I took these photos ;) }.

How to:

+ Invite your neighbours and new family friends around to have afternoon tea at 4 on Sunday.
+ Make sure you're out of your pyjamas by at least 3pm.
+ Send husband { and eight year old } to the shops half an hour before guests arrive.
+ Ask ten year old to set the table { he picks flowers = bonus points! }.
+ Get out the pretty glasses and bowls.
+ Make pink milk and serve in cute juice jars with stripy straws for the kids.
+ Pop snacks on table { dispensing crackers from their packaging is optional }.

Voila! One very-lazy afternoon tea: ready. 
Ummm, minus the tea. Yeah, we ignored that bit ;) Champagne anyone?

Do you have any of  your own lazy entertaining secrets?
Please share! XO

164/365 Berry Bliss! My Weekend Update.

Wow. What a brilliant weekend that was!

I'm just sitting here in bed catching up on my last few posts but I just wanted to say hello and thank you to the lovelies who wished me a happy weekend with my Shabby Chick, Claire here and on fb and instagram and twitter! Okay, no-one actually did on twitter - where is the LOVE?! ;) 

I have a few posts to put together but I also have to catch up on my edit of beautiful sleeping babies so it might be a day or so. But, here are some berries in the meanwhile!

Have a great week everyone!

Girl-date!

I'm just a little bit excited.

Because it's FINALLY almost THIS weekend. And this weekend - my bestie Claire and I are off on a girrrrls getaway!! 

Claire turned 40 in February [ I, of course, blogged about it! You can see all the festivities here ] and her super-lovely husband thought that the perfect gift would be *drum roll* a weekend away in Byron with me. Hahaha. 

Umm, YEAH!

We're staying at Byron at Byron. One of my favourite places in Byron to relax and hang out [ T booked me in for a surprise spa massage on mother's day just last month so I feel a bit crazy-spoilt going back again already ] but I haven't actually stayed in a couple of years and I'm looking forward to soaking it all up. 

Especially as the last few months since we got back from our big trip have been quite the emotional roller-coaster for me as the boys settled into school and I adjusted to my new creative life. Meanwhile, Claire has been intensively working on her new business: The Shabby Chick [ I tell you, the woman is seriously entrepreneurial ], chasing after her own THREE boys, generally getting covered in paint, and training her new puppy not to chew on paintbrushes, or her bras. Unsuccessfully.

We haven't seen each other in four months.  So... 

Beach-Walking,

Cocktail-drinking,

Dog-reuniting-aside we have a hit list:

1. Pedicures.

2. Eyebrow waxing [ okay, that's just me ].

3. Buying new sunglasses.

Yay!

I'm also prettttty sure we'll be getting dressed up, talking about dogs and blogs and furniture, listening to lots of music, going to the movies [ Has anyone seen The Fault in Our Stars - recommend?? ] , eating too much chocolate, and taking photos.

Including, ummm, the occasional selfie :)

Stay tuned - and let's see if I manage to post anything else before Monday or not. Now, I had better go get some beauty sleep *damn you gorgeous bestie!!*

Amber. XO