this gorgeous cardigan made by one of my favourite designers known as sublet clothing, is on sale, and I want it. It is made with a fabric of organic cotton and bamboo. If you want it too, you can buy it here.

Apparently it’s summer here in The Netherlands – the evidence of today’s outfit shows otherwise. It’s the first time I’ve had to wear tights, boots, and wool on a summer’s day! Hmm. Anyhoo, I thought it was worth a bit of show + tell. Even though I am in the business of making things look their best, that usually doesn’t include me. But on the occassion it does! And today was one of them. I am wearing my Aymara cashmere dress, and a long sleeve white organic cotton top, and one of Marie’s beautiful crochet necklaces – I think it works nicely, what do you think?

Ever wanted to try on a piece of haute couture?

Well, tomorrow night, you can!! One of my favourite craft + design galleries in Sydney called Object is opening an exhibition from this Saturday showcasing eight leading Australian fashion designers in an exhibition called How You Make It. This engaging exhibition invites people to experience the detail and process behind some of Australia’s most conceptual designers. Visitors will be given the unique chance to try on selected garments, some of which will never enter the marketplace. As a special one-off opportunity, the infamous outfit worn by Björk for her recent album tour will be on show for visitors to try on.

Tomorrow night (Friday, June 20) is the very exclusive opening to the exhibition, and I have been offered two tickets to attend. But as you all know, I am not in Sydney so guess what?! The lovely team at Object have given me the go ahead to offer my tickets to you! All you have to do is be the first to leave a comment with a “YES PLEASE!” and you and your guest are in.

The featured design practices include: Anthea van Kopplen, Ess. Laboratory, FORMALLYKNOWNAS, MATERIALBYPRODUCT, Paula Dunlop, Project, Simon Cooper and S!X.

I wish I was in Sydney to attend this incredible event but I am thrilled to offer this to you. Thank you, Object! Have a wonderful night and I’m looking forward to hearing all about it!

PS. I have to dash to a meeting but I’ll be back soon to check the results and will email the winner the details of where and when. see you soon! xx

Many mornings I wake up with pages and pages of some yet-to-be-conceived book being written in my head. Some mornings it is a script. and other mornings it is a series of images, most likely inspired by dreams. I look forward to waking. It is one of the most creative times of my day, and it the only time of the day that I just let it be. I nestle into the pillow, pull the covers around me and just let my mind play quietly.

In other news, apparently I do have one male reader. He emailed me yesterday to let me know. It was such a beautifully written email that I wanted to share it with you all and asked if I could write it as a comment to my post, but I had no reply. And I realised at that point, if he wanted to write a comment he would have. Silly girl. But hey, it’s not the first time I’ve scared a male away.

Speaking of males, the Dalai Lama is in town, but not this town. He has just landed in Sydney and will be giving a series of talks, check them out here. Of course I will not be attending since I am on the other side of the world, again. Happens every time he arrives in my part of town, somehow I am elsewhere, what is with that? My friends will be having some special private audiences with him and I hope to be able to share more about all that with you soon. There is also an awesome concert going on as well, this Sunday at the magnificent Angel Place recital hall. If you are in Sydney or near Sydney, do go, you won’t regret it.

In not so interesting news, my outfits du jour have been becoming a little crazy since I have put a ban on leaving the boat until I get my book finished. Yesterday I was wearing this peacock blue dress with gray tights and a cream aymara cardigan, with my hair shoved up on top of my head, dishevelled curls sticking out everywhere, a blue ribbon wrapped around it and one of Marie’s crochet pins in my hair. I was so tempted to show you, but I chickened out. Cooookooo.

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The above pic I took this morning, it is my little tea collection. Oh and a tin of Milo, it seems no one can take the aussie out of me.

I know I know, back to work already. I hear you.

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Well with Manda’s approval below, I am going to keep going, la pipelette is out of the box today. I suspect this could be another never-ending post.

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10:58am: We were all blown away when Australia finally said sorry. tears were shed. lost hearts were found and healing began. I was hoping with all my heart that it was going to be the beginning of a domino affect to spread across the globe. well guess what? it’s Canada’s turn. Go Canada!! I am so so pleased to hear this news, this is another momentous occasion for the survival of humanity.

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11:06am: I’m listening to him. And my favourite song is down the line.

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5:43pm: is 5:43pm too early to pour a glass of wine?

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6:54pm: yes, i’m still working. i think i can see a light at the end of the tunnel. i mean, i think it’s a light. oh wait a minute, ah yes, the brightness button on my screen has been bumped to full capacity. oops-a-daisy.

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7:12pm: i made this today with my dying peonies and astilbes (did I get it right this time? merci à tout!) – a bright little still life for a dreary weathered day…

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7:54pm: French Boy has gone out to hunt. straight to the local indian diner for takeaway. just to give you a clue of what is in the pantry: no bread. no cheese. that about means starvation for me.

and just in case you were wondering, there are now only four days left to send in your submission. just FOUR…

can you tell i cheated today? yep, i just erased the apple core via photoshop.

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and i promise this will be the last entry of the day. i bought jose’s album because it is just that good. and i’ve decided it is not enough to just send you to his myspace, so i have brought you the video of my latest favourite song right here. i advice to turn it up loud as i have been doing all day.

Have a lovely evening, and thank you sooo much for your awesome comments today, i shall respond tout de suite!

this is actually a bit fun. it’s like i am graffitti-ing on my own post. sometimes i do wish it was possible to pick up a computerized pen and scribble all over my work on the screen. and if i could, i would scribble quotes, and doodle all over some of my less-inspiring material. but look at this gorgeous white cotton paper that i heard screaming out my name today, awaiting precious words…

…It’s from Cotton Idea Studio found via one of Erika’s recent guest blog posts on Design*Sponge.

okay, maybe I am prepared to let go of this post now. i said maybe. well, let’s see how i feel by morning.

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second part of post:

update: I am heavily distracted today. I am suffering from l’angoisse de la page blanche. And worse still, I just realised that once I write a new post after this one, the My Heart Wanders: where it all began post will move to the second page, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I still find myself glancing over the images. And singing Jewel’s song outloud as I work.

So can’t I just keep updating this post instead of writing a new one? Will the blog police come after me?

Whatever. Here’s what’s on my mind: these cinnamon coated marshmallows that I just spotted over at Swiss Miss…

I suggest we build a little fire by the sea side tonight and make some smores with them. What say you?
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back to the original post:

Today’s special My Heart Wanders sneak peek is from fashion designer Riley Salyards, a subtle heart made with the help of her baby boy. A newbie fellow Amsterdammer like myself, Riley is the co-founder of this fabulous label in North America. Go ahead, click away, you know you want to! Have a look at the collections as I know you will find some serious inspiration there like I have. Um, Riley, any chance I can have a little fitting sometime?!

And check out the curtain…

It was her grandmothers, isn’t it stunning. So this is it, only six apples left now…

click here to submit. click here to get a sneak peek of other submissions. and click here to read more about the book.