Weekend Fun, Movies and Magazines!

Good morning all! How was your weekend? Mine involved a whirlwind trip back to Auckland to surprise my Dad on his 80th birthday! The look on his face when I turned up at the door on Friday afternoon was priceless (sorry no pix!). It was a special time with family and being able to catch-up with friends.

Plus, I was able to indulge in some magazine reading on the plane (even though I have tried to hone back on my magazine purchases!) The latest Home Beautiful and Australian House and Garden are definitely worth a read if you live Down Under.

I now want to make this recipe - fettucine with prawns, tomato, chilli and capers ...

Home Beautiful, pg 148

Was inspired by these grey tones and industrial style in this room ...

Home Beautiful, pg 49.

 And got caught up in the romanticism and dreamy whites of stylist Lyn Gardener's home - even though it's not really my style ...

Australian House & Garden, pg 94.

And the Australian House & Garden even came in handy when I couldn't watch the gruesome arm-chopping scene in the movie '127 Hours' - as a screen cover! 

P.S. If you haven't seen it, don't be put off by the five minutes of yuk as it is a fanstically done movie - very gripping and heart-wrenching knowing that it is a true story. I'm note sure if it's up for any Oscars but I can't wait to find out what movies will be winners. What are your picks?

Japanese Paper Vase

Everyone knows how the Japanese are queens of paper art but who knew just how many different ways paper can be used.

I bought this Air Vase, as it is called, in Tokyo. Designed by Torafu Architects, it is a 'paper bowl that envelops air. You can freely change its shape.'

It starts out flat.

And ends up like this.

Turns out Torafu Architects do some pretty modern, funky architecture too - as I have just discovered looking at their website (see here). It's reassuring to know that the face of Tokyo is starting to change and its new buildings are a far cry from the old.

P.S. The best news this week is that we got council approval for the decking louvred screen which means we don't need to deal with Knucklehead Neighbour over our house again!

A few things about Japan

Okay, so I said I wasn't going to post  any more holiday snaps! But I thought I'd tell you a few things about what we observed while in Japan.

You don't go to Japan for the architecture (I guess the war is a lot to blame for that, unfortunately). But the temples and shrines are beautiful.

You don't go to Japan without a phrase book. Jenglish abounds as this sign attests. Apparently the reason is two-fold, so says my friend's Japanese fiancee whom we met in Tokyo. The Japanese language doesn't have letters and sounds like 't' and 'r' and 'l' which makes it hard for them to pronounce many English words and because they, in general, perfectionists (their food presentations are examples of that), they don't like to do anything unless they can do it well. But the Japanese people are so super friendly, polite and respectful and go out of their way to help, that the language barriers do not matter. However, they do appreciate it enormously when you try and speak their language, so giving it a go is a must. They also apologise profusely even when they are not in the wrong!

Be open to new and different cultural experiences: like eating a meal with the owner's dog at the table next to you; eating types of raw fish and sea creatures you've never seen before (dead or alive); and taking part in a the Japanese onsen (hot spring) ritual which, if you can get past the fact you must be naked and communal (but sex segregated) you will wish you had them in your home town.

And if you go in winter, you must check out the snow - there is tons of the stuff - and, of course, build the obligatory snowman (but try not to make him look evil likes ours ended up looking!).

P.S. I have just been down to the house and guess what? Forgot the camera! Can I blame it on jetlag??
Anyway, there isn't a lot to see - just steel framework - which probably wouldn't have photographed so well. Feeling excited about the progress, though.

Holidays and all that carry on

Howdy folks! Am back from my blogging hiatus after an amazing two weeks in Japan. Now I won't bore you with a  load of holiday snaps (phew, I hear you say) but I will show you two, if I may. Not only did we go from 30-something degrees celsius to around minus 8 in the snow, but hubby decided to show off a Christmas present I gave him and in light of the current trend in homewares for all things with the British wartime slogan (or something similar) 'Keep Calm and Carry On', I feel the need to show you the result. I'm sure he won't mind ...

Image by the girl in the brick house taken at Hakuba in beer-freezing temperatures.

I found this little gem (the T-shirt not the husband) at http://www.drinkbeerandcarryon.co.uk/ - a typically British male website if ever there was one. When I saw it, I knew just who would love it!

Says the site: In these rather trying times we simply can't allow the backbone of Britain, its pubs, to wither away and die. It's time to get a grip, gird our loins, dig for victory and stiffen those upper lips (around a pint of fine British ale, of course). So, show your support for mine host on the frontline and don one of these rather dashing undershirts.

Apart from taking silly photos, skiing and trying to speak Japanese, we also made a visit to the snow mt the Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park near Nagano who love to wallow in hot springs in the wild and don't mind human company. I just have to show you one I photographed only centimetres away from us. So cute I could have taken him home!

Image by the girl in the brick house taken on her little old digital camera.  

P.S. A quick update re the house: there was a delay with the roofing steel because of the application of zinc spraying which protects the steel from corrosion so it didn't go in pre-Christmas. But tomorrow it does, as well as the timber rafters and then the roof sheeting. Yay! Still waiting to hear official confirmation that the privacy screening is all a-go but it's looking good. And we have a site meeting on Friday so will hopefully be able to show you the new roof then!

Ruby the Red Nose Reindeer Dog

Well, folks, it's that time we call the silly season and what better way to end the year than with a silly-looking dog!

Ruby did this all by herself a couple of months ago and of course I snapped away knowing just when it might come in handy.

I hope you all have a super Christmas, merry New Year and relaxing, fun holidays. I'm taking some time off now from the blogging world and will be going away too, so you won't hear from me again until mid-January.

Take care
Jane xx

Spanish Time

Okay, I know it's only just October but already people are talking about Christmas - agh! But if you ask me, where is one place I wouldn't mind staying, then this hotel would be on my list.

The Spanish Hotel Viura, designed by Designhouses, is in the wine region of Rioja Alavesa and is named after the most widely planted white grape variety in Rioja. Its modern, quirky architecture, based on a series of concrete cubes, sits next to a 17th century church in the middle of a traditional village. It has plush seating, a wine-barrel ceilinged restaurant and stunning views.

Images: The Contemporist

When can we go?

The Atlantic at Byron Bay

I took some quick snaps on my phone of the place my girlfriends and I stayed in while at Byron Bay last weekend. The Atlantic guesthouses at Byron are a very beachy, laid-back style of accommodation where white was the mainstay of the interior design. In fact, we all agreed that all white rooms ie white floors, walls, kitchen, furnishings and bedding, which look fab in magazines, could actually be too much - especially in winter. We all wanted to inject a bit of colour - even if it was a dash of grey - to the interior of the one we were in - the Premium Ensuite (which actually looks more colourful on the website). But check out the exteriors - black with white trim and lots of palm trees.

 Outside the Standard Ensuite

 The Skippers' door

 The seahorse outside our door

The Airstream - funky silver caravan-style accommodation

 Kid's cubby house

Beautiful turquoise vase and orchids in our room - the only splash of colour

Oh, to be back there again!

Holiday R&R

It's the start of the school hols and we're having a week away with friends at a place called Forster up the coast, about four and a half hours drive from Sydney. This isn't the house we're staying in - although I've heard it's nice. But this outdoor room - yes, that's right, outdoor - has all the elements of a place ideal for rest and relxation: lots of plump cushions, a large lounger on which to lie and rest one's feet, a log fire, and ample, stylish side tables for cups of tea or glasses of wine.

I aim to read Megan Morton's Home Love, finish Lionel Shriver's latest book, So Much for That, sing badly on Singstar, go for long walks, and enjoy time with family and our friends.

And when we get back, we'll get to see progress on the house!

Beach Memories Framed

Remember the holiday photos I showed you a while back that I was thinking of framing? Well, they're done! My amateur snaps haven't come up too bad - helped along, no less, by the recycled timber frames from the Southbank Market in Melbourne. They will certainly add some zing to the walls at the bach, if nothing else!  

Storm Brewing on Byron Bay Beach

Island Gull

Footprint in the Sand

La Purificadora Hotel

I don't normally peruse hotels online but I just happened to be having a nosey around Architecture Daily's website for work and stumbled upon this amazing looking hotel in Mexico, called La Purificadora Hotel. The modern purple sofa pops against the historic stone building.

The boutique hotel is in the city of Puebla and used to be an ice factory where the water was bottled and purified - hence the hotel's name - and was transformed by architects Legorreta + Legorreta.

Anyone care to join me in a reccy to Mexico?

Bookshop Cafe Heaven

Hello everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Now I was very keen to show you how much, or should I say, how little of our old house is left. Everything has gone, bar the laundry window and the bath. I even managed to give away our old, but still functioning, fridge plus other bits and bobs to Vinnie's (St Vincent de Paul's charity). Last week, Murray, a builder from Newcastle, came to take the windows and doors and uplift the floorboards that could be re-used (which only turned out to be a small area of the living room that used to be the verandah before it was covered).

But, although I have taken photos, I can't download them as the computer cord appears to have gone walkabout! So they will just have to wait. In the meantime, I thought I'd share some images of a renovated bookshop cafe in Manhattan that would have to be my ideal bookshop cafe and yet another reason why I'd love a trip to New York!

One of the largest independent booksellers in downtown Manhattan, McNally Jackson Books under went a revamp by Front Studio architects and they have managed to combine two of my favourite things - a good book and a quirky light fitting.

According to Front Studio, the cafe owner wanted to "re-conceptualize the café as a place evocative of literature". So books were used as part of the pendant lights and pages of books used to line the walls.

They describe the space as such: "A scattering of books hangs precipitously from the ceiling, as if a pile of books had been thrown into the sky and frozen. The curved wall surrounding the seating area is covered in wallpaper made entirely of open spine books, the texture of the print adds a rippling effect of restless pages."

"Running along the wall is a series of folding single tables, carefully crafted to resemble a folded book when closed. The new menu is made of food related quotes lit by four light fixtures, each dedicated to the many editions of a singular book."

Images courtesy The Contemporist

How cool is that?

Framing Summer Memories

I was scrolling through some holiday photos taken over the past couple of years and discovered some that might just be perfect for the recycled timber frames I bought at the South Bank Market in Melbourne last month.

One frame I photographed outside and the other inside with me in the middle!

They're made by Mulbury Gallery ...

I wanted some photos that were scenic rather than family that could go in the beach house.

This old seagull was taking a break on some nails (!) while we were having a lovely early dinner at a cafe on Waiheke Island off the coast of Auckland during our visit last Christmas. He reminds me of summer, my family and lazy days in the sun.

My footprint in the sand at Byron Bay.

The beach at Byron Bay before the storm hit.

Not sure if this works - perhaps the pebbles aren't designer-looking enough, if you know what I mean?

Not very summery, I know, but quite dramatic.

The Great Aussie Surf (which just has to be in capitals!)

Who's never cloud watched? These were taken at Hardys Bay one trip when we were sitting on the deck wiling away an afternoon when we noticed the clouds transforming themselves into pictures.

It was an endless feast for one's imagination.

What do you think? Would any of these, blown up, suit those frames?

Now, before I go I have to give a mention to the lovely Julie-Ann over at the Decorating Forum who mentioned the post I wrote on the colour gray and opened it up for discussion here on the Decorating Forum. Pop on over if you're looking for any tips or inspiration.

Happy weekend!