Laundry Room Ideas

Your laundry room doesn't have to be drab and boring, I think it's the perfect multi-use space for some extra storage and to house your hobbies. I would love a spacious laundry room with plenty of natural light, an organised storage system in pretty labelled boxes, and a workbench for gardening or fixing things. Here are some beautiful ideas that will be sure get you excited about your next load of washing...

Designer Watch: Rosa Clara

Through Polka Dot Bride, I stumbled upon Rosa Clara's 2012 Soft Collection and I fell in love with each and every one of the flowing romantic gowns that look absolutely heavenly! These dresses are what I've always envisioned my wedding dress to be like so I'm over the moon to have found this designer!

Island kitchens

I love searching for inspiration for my future dream kitchen. I would love one with lots of light, clean white cupboards, some with glass to display pretty kitchenware, and a large island bench perfect for cooking with friends and family for an alfresco dinner party. Chuck in a walk in pantry, stools for a bench top breakfast and a state of the art oven, gas stove top and fridge and you've got my favourite room in the house!

Playlist #1 - Memorable Movies

I've been listening to Richard Mercer's Love Song Dedications while driving at night recently and it made me think of starting a new blog series to keep a record of all the great songs that I hear on the radio and elsewhere. Tonight, after watching the end of Dirty Dancing on TV, the infamous dance scene between Johnny and Baby gave me the idea for the theme of my first song blog...

1. (I've had) the time of my life - Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes [Dirty Dancing]
2. I will always love you - Whitney Houston [The Bodyguard]
3. Come what may - Nicole Kidman & Ewan McGregor [Moulin Rouge]
4. I don't wanna miss a thing - Aerosmith [Armageddon]
5. My heart will go on - Celine Dion [Titanic]
6. When you say nothing at all - Ronan Keating [Notting Hill]
7. Endless Love - Lionel Ritchie & Diana Ross [Endless Love]
8. Unchained melody - Righteous Brothers [Ghost]
9. Can you feel the love tonight - Elton John [The Lion King]
10. A whole new world - Peabo Bryson & Regina Belle [Aladdin]

Flower jars

It's been way too long since my last post, but after the craziness of exams and catching up on work, I finally have a couple of weeks of holidays to get back into the swing of things and start documenting all the inspirational ideas that I've back logged over the last few months.

First of all, this is a cheap and easy idea for a quick table top decoration that you may need for any event you may have, whether it be a dinner party, a wedding or even a backyard barbecue. The idea of have a mix of blooming flowers and greens placed in assorted jars and decorated with some complementary ribbon is such a simple, delicate and rustic idea that I have completely fell in love with. It's so easy to collect jars in all different sizes - tall pasta jars, small sauce jars, round salsa jars - ever since I've found this idea, I've been consciously washing all the glass jars we use and storing them for future use. You can even use them for candles, drinks or lollies to add an extra dimension to the basic flower idea to create something really personal for you special event.

 

Cheesecake in a jar

This great idea is courtesy of Sarah Hearts and it's so simple yet brilliant that I can't help but take note of it for future use!

Luck, Love and Happiness

I found this amazing proposal video and loved the whole creative concept of making a movie out of your love story. Very cleverly done, with great cinematography and music, and priceless footage of all their adventures together, inspiring me to take more videos! Watch and enjoy!

LUCK - NYC Wedding Propsal from Aria Melody DJ on Vimeo.

Twist Wrap Dress

I love the concept of a multi-functional dress that can change into a zillion different looks to suit any occasion. The Dessy Twist Wrap Dress is exactly that and all the styles modeled on the sight look so pretty. I would love one of these dresses in a nice bright summery colour to chuck in a weekend bag when I go on holidays! Perfect as a cover up in between dips or for a nice sunset dinner. If only I could get one in every colour!

Nigella Lawson's Instant Chocolate Mousse

I recently discovered Nigella Lawson's quick and easy recipes on youtube. She is famous for being sensual in the kitchen and I think her passion for good food - and not being skimpy with it - is really appealing, especially when she candidly admits to being tempted by all the yummy things in life. After watching this clip on her instant chocolate mousse, I realised I had all the ingredients in my kitchen and attempted to see if it really was that easy. I'm not a chocolate person so this was more of a treat for my boyfriend (who I've been force feeding mousse for a week now!) but the recipe was so simple, fast and a classic crowd pleaser that I'm so glad I can now add it to my dessert repertoire!

"Just glide serenely to the fridge and bring out these dark beauties." - Nigella Lawson

Ingredients:

• 150g mini marshmallows
• 50g unsalted butter
• 250g dark chocolate chips
• 4 tbsp hot water
• 484 mL tub of cream 
• 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract

Method:

• Melt marshmallows, butter, chocolate chips with the hot water in a pot
• Whisk cream and vanilla until it forms firm peaks
• Fold chocolate into the cream
• Fill glasses with the mousse mixture and refrigerate for 5 minute or until firm

My attempt - yum!

Madame Flavour

Recently, I've been fending off coffee and opting instead, for good quality tea - my favourite is jasmine! I began to search Asian groceries, Chinese tea houses and even online for delicious new tea flavours but surprisingly, I've found a nice little gem right down the road at my local Coles.

Madame Flavour's Green, Jasmine & Pear tea is amazingly fragrant and deliciously refreshing and soothing. The minute you open the box (18 tea bags for around $5), you are welcomed with a personal note from Madame Flavour herself, describing her venture to Sri Lanka to source and blend her teas. The tea leaves are housed in infuser pods and the minute you open the foil seal bag, you are greeted with the beautiful fragrance of unmistakable green, jasmine and pear - just like the box says! I've thoroughly enjoyed the my experience with this tea and would highly recommend it to you to try. Each pod can be re-infused up to 3 times so you can sit back and watch the natural tea leaves unfurl again and again whenever you need a little pick-me-up.

The Royal Wedding

Last Friday the 29th April was the wedding of William and Kate, a modern day fairytale and a historic event that captured 2 billion viewers worldwide! The best kept secret and most anticipated detail of the day was Kate's dress, a custom made creation by Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen that was tastefully classic yet modern  and drew inspiration from Grace Kelly's wedding dress more than half a century ago.

I think that Pippa Middleton, Kate's sister, looked gorgeous in her maid of honour dress (so simple and elegant, I loved the flowers in her hair!) as well as her sexy emerald green dress (love love love the colour!)

Finally, Will and Kate looked so happy on their special day! Amongst all the pressure and nerves that they must be feeling knowing that the whole world was watching, they carried themselves so well and really looked like any other loved up couple on their wedding day. She looks so happy to finally have her prince charming and he looks at her like she's the only girl in the world! I love fairytales and happy endings!

Easter Egg Nails

Getting into the spirit of a 5 day Easter long weekend! This cute Easter Egg nail polish look is easy if you have a ridiculously large nail polish collection like I do. You can never have enough though it seems, I still had to double up on each hand because I didn't have baby green! I did my toes too but they're not so photogenic. They look so good I just want to gobble them up! Happy Easter!

Bridesmaids Only

My favourite wedding blog, Polka Dot Bride, always posts beautiful photo shoots of weddings, dresses and venues to give you ideas for your own. This photo shoot features bridesmaids dresses from Bridesmaids only in Double Bay which are so colourful and pretty that I couldn't resist borrowing some ideas!

Summer Food Adventures

I just realised that I haven't posted any food adventure photos this year so here's 3 months worth of yummy foodie shots that will make you drooool. Slowly eating my way through Sydney and Fiji! Enjoy!

Vietnamese meatballs and vermicelli

Bau Truong, Canley Heights

Pork Dumplings

New Shanghai, Chatswood

Mushroom and avocado salad

Hogsbreath, Castle Hill

BBQ Tower 

Hogsbreath, Castle Hill

Apple Danish

Luneburger, Town Hall

Salmon sashimi on sushi rice with side salad and mini udon

Akaneya, Sydney CBD

Vietnamese family lunch - chicken curry, roast duck, spring rolls and much much more!

My Aunty's house

Hot dog de wheels

Harry's Cafe De Wheels - Parramatta

Chicken and pumpkin salad

Cafe @ Jones Bay Wharf

Eggs Benedict with prosciutto

Cafe @ Jones Bay Wharf

Miso citrus lobster tail

Kobe Jones, King Street Wharf

Chicken Balti

Home made

Lebanese vegetarian mix plate

Home made

Piggy dumplings

Chefs Gallery

Creamy scallops

Encasa, Sydney CBD

Potatos with salsa and aioli

Encasa, Sydney CBD

Seafood Paella

Encasa, Sydney CBD

Tuna Salad

Moo Moo, Westin - Fiji

Wahu wahu

Flying Fish, Sheraton - Fiji

Green tea cake with lychee icecream

Zing, Westin - Fiji