So here she is, our little girl, born at 6:30am on Valentine’s Day. She came into this world strong and determined, just like I felt she was in the womb. Her name is Laly (pronounced lah-lee) – it’s a French name Romain and I picked out many months ago but we wanted to meet her first to be sure it was right, and as soon as we saw her we knew that she was indeed our little Laly…

This has been an incredibly intense journey from the very beginning – the pregnancy, birth, and these first two weeks of motherhood… what a ride, it’s like nothing I have ever experienced. Even though I’ve always admired and respected the mums of the world, I have a greater found respect for all mums past and present. This is one tough job. But just take a look at these photos, they are snippets of the glorious moments to be cherished…

Everyone tells me it gets easier and that by week 6 or so, routines can be established and sleep can be had. I am counting on it. And I’ve learnt this: If there is one way to be sure you are living in the moment, have a baby.

Wow, we are a family now: Valentine’s Day for us will always be when two became three.

xx

Do you remember some time ago now, I wrote about an architecture & design firm called tacklebox? It is an innovative company based in New York, founded by my friend & architect Jeremy Barbour. If you recall, he designed the saipua showroom in Brooklyn, NY, creating a fabulous space made from recycled silver barn wood (read my post and view the gorgeous photos of the space here).

Last year, Jeremy came out to Australia for a special secretive research mission for melbourne-based skin care range aesop, and over a lovely lunch in Paddington, here in Sydney, he revealed to me a little about what he was up to and what he wanted to create. I was captivated, and could not wait to see the project unfold and revealed to the public. A few months ago, the spaces in New York were opened: one in grand central station, another on Elizabeth St in the Nolita, and the other in Greenwich Village, University Place. Take a look…

Aesop Nolita, Elizabeth St, New York, photos by Gianluca Fellini.

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Aesop Grand Central Kiosk, in Grand Central station, photos by Juliana Sohn.

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Aesop University Place, Greenwich Village, photos by Juliana Sohn. (particularly loving the store’s sink which was salvaged from Bethlehem Steel’s 140-year-old plant in Pennsylvania).

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The concept was to use the New York Times newsprint as a material within the foundations. The aesop Grand Central Kiosk for example, is constructed of 1,800 reclaimed newspapers from the New York Times. The aesop range sit on a tiered mass of stacked and bound newsprint while loosely hanging papers form a canopy above. For the Nolita store, 2800 New York Times newspapers were hand-torn into 400,000 strips which were then stacked to create “a soft, felt-like surface held within a continuous oak wrapper”.

“Just as oak is commonly used to store and age wine and spirits, so too will the newspaper age, turning a light tan, thus marking the passing of time. In this way, the history of Aesop North America will be recorded within the very walls of this first store.”

The newsprint, stacked and pressed, ready to be used.

As you know, I’ve been loving the use of recycled paper as a material lately, perhaps it has something to do with the onslaught of technology, and the growing, ill feeling of living within a paperless society. Preserving and maintaining the use of paper in our world seems imperative, and I love how imaginative people are toward its many uses these days.

Congratulations Jeremy on completing yet another stunning set of spaces using recycled material and furnishings – you’re an inspiration to us all, I can’t wait to see what you create next! And a big thank you for sharing your projects here in the (blog)house.

beautiful nyc photography by irene suchocki, available to purchase here.

Have you noticed? It’s the city on everyone’s lips, and it seems to be the place of longing in everyone’s hearts. I have so many friends who dream of living in NYC, and I have many friends living and working there, enjoying everything the city has to offer. It’s a pretty amazing place to be, so I thought I’d showcase it a little more here in the (blog)house. Over the next month I’ve invited two New Yorkers into the guest quarters to share with us ‘their New York’. Ashley & Aron Bruhn of Hither & Thither will be joining us weekly to take us on a personal tour of the city. They are already unpacking their bags, setting up home in the guest quarters as I type –  click here to read their introductory post (thank you for sharing your part of the world, Ashley & Aron!).

And coming up next, I have a lovely post about a friend who creates amazing spaces in New York using recycled components, this time he’s used one of my favourite materials: paper.

+Both images in this post by Irene Suchocki, see more of her incredible travel photography here.

Here is a quick still life of a few of the gorgeous cards I received last month – some made by hand, others printed photographs and illustrations on beautiful card stock. Thank you lovely friends.

I hope everyone has had a peaceful, ‘time to reflect’ start to 2012. I’ve been nesting as you can imagine, and am happy to say our house now – finally – feels like home. It took a while but it’s ready – and I’m ready – to greet this new little person in our lives.

Happy holidays everyone! Here’s to 2012 being a year of hope, action, and positive change for all and each individual.

xx

PS my friend Jenni rented out the movie “babies” for us yesterday, something she’s been telling me about for months but I hadn’t yet got around to finding. We watched it last night and it’s truly fabulous, I was especially drawn to the Namibian family, and french boy loved the mongolian nomadic way of life (impressed that they had a satellite dish and mobile phone). An inspiring film, I hope you take the time to watch it if you haven’t seen it already.

peony love, a gift from my sweet friend Kylie.

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sending a little thank you gift to a dear friend overseas. Handmade gift tag by paper boat press.
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clockwise from top left: gorgeous jute crocheted Christmas decorations in newspaper taxi; signed copies of My Heart Wanders & Paris: Made by Hand wrapped and ready to be sent far away; on the coffee table; the sweetest handmade christmas decorations from paper boat press.
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Since I’ve been less and less mobile over the last few months, I’ve been relying on my iphone to capture some of my day enhancing moments. I’ve been posting them on instagram, which has become my new favourite ‘visual blogging’ medium as I love the instant, intimate aspect of it. It’s been a wonderful way to keep in touch with friends near and far, see what they’re up to during the day in a visual way. Every now and then I post some images on facebook and twitter, and recently I asked my readers if they’d like to see these images on the blog too, or if it would be too much repetition. There was lots of positive feedback, so I thought I should give it a try. I thought maybe once a month I could pick my favourite shots and post them in a collection like this – let me know if you like this idea.

Here’s the latest collection, with captions and links for your clicking pleasure…

inside Stef’s shop,newspaper taxi:1
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inside Stef’s shop, newspaper taxi:2
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afternoon tea with Stef at Black Star Pastry, featuring their beetroot chocolate cake with rose petals, and lavender and blueberry tart.
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surprise art in the park: 1… drink, anyone?
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surprise art in the park: 2… the beginning of a beautiful story.
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surprise art in the park: 3… nature’s purple neon spectacular, jacaranda love.
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on the coffee table: bowl of scented sunshine from the garden, a page from My Heart Wanders, rocks from French Boy’s  hometown lake in France, Heidi’s gorgeous book ‘super natural every day’, my collection of aromatherapy reference books, and a cup of chai.
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Also, I’ve been looking into some new-to-me music, here is my current background music while I work/lay on couch/waddle around the house, perhaps you’ll find something here you like too:

+twice by little dragon (also like ‘after the rain’)
+i follow rivers, lykke li
+how come you never go there, feist
+you are all i see, active child
+brother, matt corby
+feeding line, boy & bear