what: the bay (a.k.a ‘summer bay’ on tv). where: palm beach, sydney. why: the water
what: bus stop. where: newport west, sydney. why: love the nature all around.
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I thought I might start a new series of posts here in the (blog)house, an “in between posts” series where I just post a random photo taken wherever I might be, with a brief description. What do you think, shall we give it a whirl, see if we like this idea? Perhaps it will help make me feel a bit more settled in my old/new surroundings. px
feathers.
bush walk between newport beach and bilgola beach.
Since arriving in Sydney, with a to-do list longer than the sea is deep, I’m making sure to have fun in between commitments. The days are hot (36C!)(no idea what that is in Fahrenheit), so dips in the pool throughout the day have become my ‘tea break’. As often as I have experienced it, it’s still pretty strange to have gone from living in minus degree weather to lots of degrees weather in a space of days. And boy, does the sun down here shine! It’s just crazy beautiful. When Amsterdammers used to say to me in Amsterdam “oh wow, it’s such a sunny day today” and I’d look up at the sky and see a pale white ball of light desperately trying to break through the grey sky, I’d smile and secretly think “I’m sorry, but no, this is not what a sunny day really looks like”. Australia is definitely where the sun lives…
the sun shining through the gum trees this morning.
In other fun news, I decided to get an iphone as I needed a mobile phone here in Sydney. My ipod has been on the fritz for the last 2 years, and my G10 ‘everyday’ camera has been weighing heavy in my bag so I figure here is a 3 in 1. While I’m not quite into apps just yet, over the last few months I have been inspired by Susannah Conway’s instagr.am images so decided to download this free app to try it out. It’s pretty fun, I must say – every so often I take an image of something in my near vicinity that I find inspiring et voilà, it appears on my twitter account for all to see. It’s a new way of enhancing the everyday…
heavily inspired by a floral design on a card I bought for my Mum while in Malaysia.
finds in my old wardrobe… left: a stack of books I can’t wait to read again, right: a rack of favourite vintage clothes that have stayed in Sydney all these years.
Above are some examples of what I have been posting on my instagr.am account. If you’d like to see more, you can sign up to follow me. But don’t ask me how you do that – I’m still new to this iphone and chances are, if you have one yourself then you know much more about it than me.
In more fun news, I’m in the midst of writing a post here in the (blog)house about my recent ‘island retreat’ experience – just looking at the photos sends me into a state of bliss, I hope it will do the same for you. It will be up next.
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PS. oh yeah, and I’m on a mission to curb my use of exclamation marks. Perhaps you already noticed in this post? But it makes me feel like I’m writing monotonously. So then I’m on a mission to find another way to add expression in my words without the use of the overused exclamation mark. Hmmm…all this in the name of fun…
Well! Where to start. First of all, happy 2011 to all! I hope you’ve had a relaxing start to the year – what have you been up to? I know in some parts of the world it’s been a rather devastating beginning to the year with floods a plenty. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised to find many spirits of those who have suffered filled with a sense of renewal and community.
For me, it’s been a time of significant change.
Mes amis, I have moved to Sydney, Australia. This past month, that’s what I’ve been doing – moving my life from one part of the world to the other. And now, after a 5 day ‘time out’ holiday on my favourite island in the Malacca Strait (photos and stories to come!), we’ve just landed in Sydney – ready to embark on this next part of our life journey together in this sunny part of the world.
How did it all happen? Rather quickly. How do I feel about this big move? Perhaps ask me in a month or two once we’ve found a home and settled into Sydney life. As much as I’m happy to be in the sunshine and be in closer proximity to family and friends here, it means I have left dear friends over there, and that makes my heart ache. If only it was possible to be in two places at the same time…
It helped a lot to have some time away from the (blog)house to focus on all the physical tasks at hand, to spend quality time with my friends in Amsterdam, and to pack up our belongings which are now on a boat (not the boat), due to arrive in Sydney in a couple of months time. After only finishing the book a day before Christmas, I had little energy left for the events that transpired over the last 30 days. I know I’ll be looking back on these last months and wonder, how on earth did I get all that done in such a short space of time? It’s amazing what the mind and body can do when they work in harmony…
I’ll tell you more of the whys and hows as my mind and heart settle into these new surroundings but in this moment, I am very excited about the year ahead. I’m not one for making resolutions, but come new year’s eve, I found myself resolving that this year I want to focus on having fun. I am so incredibly excited about the launch this coming april/may of My Heart Wanders. Thank you so much to everyone who commented and sent me sweet messages about the cover! There are some great ideas being discussed about book events for the launch here in Sydney, I can’t wait to reveal them to you.
Pour l’instant, I feel ready to blog again. I hope you’re ready to have me back…
xx
…it’s adorable. I found this pretty embroidered silk number in a little vintage boutique earlier this year, in a sweet seaside town outside of Sydney where my dear friend Jenni lives. We saw it together, both fell in love with it and spent the following moments passing it from one to another “no you have it”, “no you saw it first, you should have it” “no no, you have it”. Jenni insisted I take it, so I did. And now it lives with me here in Amsterdam. It’s a lovely summer bag, and even though I don’t get to use it much here in the north, I have it hanging on a hook in my bedroom where I can see it everyday and think of my dear friend.