As I get settled in for my second winter here in Amsterdam, I find I’ve been spending time ‘cozifying’ my home. Or, as the Dutch say, making it gezellig. I’ve added and changed a few things, just playing around really. I’m not sure I will keep things as they are but it’s fun to play. So come on in out of the rain, take off your coat, and enjoy a little wander around le petit bateau with me. When you’ve finished having a little look around, be sure to come and join me at the table for a nice warm cup of chocolat chaud…

Have you spotted the changes I’ve made? Click here to see what le petit bateau looked like back in Spring. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

With all our time zone differences, one of the fun things about living abroad is waking up in the morning to emails and comments that have come in overnight from my faraway friends (thats you, my dear readers!), and this morning I woke up to a pretty fabulous surprise that I simply have to share with each of you. Artist Diane Bronstein (you all know how much of a fan I am of her work, i posted about her here) is hosting her first giveaway!!

Diane is offering each of us a chance to win her enchanting watercolour featured above called Ghost of a Memory. To enter, all you have to do is comment on her post by clicking here, and if you’d like to double your chances of winning and you have a blog, you can link to her post and competition by posting about your favourite dress.

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Of course I don’t need to tell you I am doubling my chances!
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Now, you may be sick of seeing my favourite dress, especially since I even wrote an ode to it here, and posted it here on that most memorable day last week, but for a third and most likely not final time, here it is again!

Yep, it is indeed my 1920’s knitted number that was handed down to me from my Oma’s cousin. It has many stories to tell, the following being one of them: A few years ago I wore it to a wedding in Sydney and the groom’s mother who lives in an estonian castle (!) came to me and proclaimed rather loudly “You are wearing my dress!” According to her, this dress is only one of a kind, created by a Melbourne designer (she didn’t tell me who). This woman who proclaimed it as hers said she lent it to a friend about 50 years ago and the friend never returned it! Thank goodness it turns out my Oma’s cousin was not the friend, and after all this I said, “How fascinating, do you mind that I wear it?” And she said, “Of course not darling, you look simply ravishing in it! It was made for you!” Phew!

But the saddest news is that my favourite dress has been hanging ever so lonely in my closet in Sydney for way too long. Since I’ve been away for 2 years that means I have not worn it for more than two years! Quel dommage!! (That is French for shock!horror!) I have worn it to nearly every ‘main event’ in my life over the past 5 years, here are just a few snapshots of me in the dress at various functions in Canada and Australia…

I modernised it a bit by wearing it off the shoulder and accessorising with a low belt. It is one of those dresses that just sits so beautifully – it swings when I walk, it falls softly around me when I am seated, and it can be dressed down (like when one happens to be captaining a yacht!?) or dressed up for a wedding.

But now, I must say, it is all but a ghost of a memory.
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Everyone, get over to Diane’s blog and comment tout de suite as she will be drawing our names out of the hat on Monday! Thank you Diane!

By the way, Diane has three blogs, check them all out while you are at it:

Inspiration By Design
Daily Art
Style in the Streets

Next weekend, on Saturday November 22nd, on South Curl Curl beach in Sydney, starting at 4pm there is an AWESOME music festival happening. Hosted by The Beats That Give Back, there will be live bands, all of varied roots: rock, reggae, acoustic, harmonic, organ drifting, singer styling, bass slinging, brass blasting, djembe tapping, solo ripping, & drum cracking… Some of the music you will hear on the day will include:

The Landlords
Jumbledat
The Sniffer Dogs
Lemonade
The Pachamamas

Let me tell you, if anyone knows how to throw a fabulous beach party, it is the organiser herself – hostess with the mostess – Bron Harrison. She has organised fire twirlers, a fully stocked bar, a BBQ and so much more, making this event one of the hottest of the season.

Tickets are $25 but you need to get in quick as past events have sold out. Click here to read more about the event and purchase your tickets.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to buy food, medicine and essential equipment for Tibetan refugees in North India. So jump online and buy your tickets and if you can’t make it, you can donate by clicking here.

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Thank you for the heads up Sue!

These images were created for the very awesome Sydney Symphony Orchestra. I love the concept – stunning portraits of the Sydney Symphony performers ‘billboarded’ (in post-production) on blank walls throughout Sydney. The landscape shots were taken by my good friend David Knight (remember I featured his work here and here). David has captured some of the most picturesque nooks and crannies of the city and I found myself guessing where all the shots were taken. Sydneysiders, do you want to play with me and guess along?

If you have not yet seen the Sydney Symphony Orchestra perform then you must! I have seen them a number of times and am enraptured with every performance. The 2009 season is now open. And if you’d like to know who were the masterminds behind these images, see below…

Agency: Moon Group, Sydney
Creative director: Linda Jukic, Senior Designer: Christopher Doyle
Photographers: Landscapes David Knight, portraits Anthony Geernaert
Retouching: Kerry at Cranky Mermaid

I didn’t mean to, it just happened! I surprised myself. How does one surprise themselves you ask? Well, this is what you do…

You look at yourself in the mirror but this time you look at yourself CLOSELY. Not the usual ol’ two second check over to ensure you have nothing hanging off your face, but rather a magnified look. And then you are aghast! at the condition of your skin. And then you think, how long has it been since you last had a facial? And then you realise it’s been more than 2 years, in fact you can’t even remember when the last time was, so it’s more like 3 or even 4 years past. Then you think, I need a facial! So you get on the internet and you look for a beauty treatment boutique that uses natural products only. You find one! And you make an appointment mid-week…

That’s how it happened for me yesterday. Which is how I discovered Aromatique Amsterdam, on the Nieuwe Spiegelstraat which is the street with all the antique shops I was telling you about the other day. What a treat! I’m going to tell you more about this wonderful discovery soon as there is much to tell. But for now, all I will say is my skin today feels sooooo good.

I doubled my surprise treat dosage by mistakenly finding a fabulous restaurant on the same road to stop for some lunch. I intended to just grab a quick bagel but the bagel shop was packed so I scouted for another place and I found Spelt – a little oasis with a yummy menu. So there I was, mid-week, without my laptop, pen or paper or book or any of my usual distractions, looking out over their beautiful garden, having no choice but to be content with my own company. I had the mushroom soup, followed by the apple tart which was so delicious, I want to go back for it again. Perhaps another mid-week treat is on the cards next week? How ridiculously indulgent of me that would be!