HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR B

Am slowly coming down off the loveliest of lovely weekends. It was Mr B's birthday which we celebrated with a BBQ at home with most - some of you couldn't make :( - of our favourite people. Of course, the general idea of a BBQ is that it is a low key, low stress sort of a do, which of course is the beauty of it! It definitely was low stress compared to other soirees we've thrown (I may have been known to get a wee bit flustered as I struggle with the time lines and execution of all my grand ideas) but possibly not super low key as we do love a party...

The birthday boy.

Brad & Nige doing a great job on the BBQs as the sun sets and the lanterns start to come into their own...

Right well let's face it, because it really is all about the food (and also about me not having asked most of my friends and family if they're happy to star on my blog and food can't say "no") let me go straight to the pictures of our feast, taken by Tish. I do seem to have an unreasonable fear of food running out. It never has but always, always seem to have ridiculous amounts left over (maybe am just very bad at maths!).

OK, so not everyone is into pics of meat cooking but let me just tell you about the marinades (each enough for 4 steaks) - #1 Soy, chilli & ginger (80ml dark soy sauce, deseeded thinly sliced large fresh red chilli, 2 crushed garlic cloves & 2tsp fresh ginger) and #2 Olive tapenade, red wine & parsley (80ml extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine, 2tbs crushed garlic cloves, 2tbs olive tapenade & 2 tbs fresh parsley). Too easy, too delicious.

Nat's very yummy tofu kebabs.

How sweet it is to get to dessert...

Food, food, glorious food.

Lemon meringues & caramel tarts.

Chocolate eclairs & strawberry tarts from my favourite patisserie.

Rach's fabulous chocolate mousse.

Pasticerria Papa's famous baked ricotta cheesecake.

Gorgeous cupcakes from my gorgeous cousin.

But let me just say, one of the best thing about having far too much food is there is always so much left over to enjoy later and so anyone who didn't already have plans came back for brunch on Sunday which rolled into a leisurely lunch and then for some of us, even into dinner. We really do have the best friends and family.

Happy Birthday Babe!

FOR SALE

Collette Dinnigan's fabulous Paddington pad is for sale. Pop across here for more great pictures!

WHO'S IT GOING TO BE?

Image from The Artists Bluebook.

OCCASIONAL TABLES POSTSCRIPT

I'm loving this beautiful silver leaf side table featured on Dose of Design.

Melbourne

Well am not long back from a lovely mini break in Melbourne where we managed to pack in oodles and oodles. Ostensibly down there for work, I spent the first day and a half casing out the trade fairs (one was dreadful, one was so fabulous I could fly) and navigating my way through Melbourne's road trams and hook turns. As soon as that was done, the fun could begin. Of course I spent far too much money at the DFO South Wharf but consoled myself with the fact that I was really being a saver because after all where else can you buy a current season Country Road shirt for $9.95?!

After that we did the Titanic Artifact Exhibition at the Melbourne Museum. Definitely worth seeing if you are in Melbourne ($24 a pop so pretty reasonable) but you may be a little disappointed if you came down specifically to see it? Depends I suppose on how hardcore a fan you are. The bits I loved the most are the recreated classes of cabins and the grand staircase (which you can have your photo taken on to buy back later for 5 gazillion dollars). Points in the exhibition are very moving, especially the laid out clothes and uniforms, too sad. The mood is very reverent as you move through and if you hear someone sharing a private joke you feel like you should go over and ask "for a little shoosh please".

The view was the best thing we could say about the first hotel we stayed in

(which shall remain nameless because that's just the kind of girl I am) and that's the

Melbourne Museum you can see in the distance behind the old exhibition building.

On the recommendation of a friend we had coffee at the Laurent, a French patisserie that didn't disappoint.

The Laurent

We sat at a table in the alley and did our very best to imagine we were in Paris and not just at the Paris end of Little Collins street. Coffee, food and atmosphere was so good here we came back for more at the end of our visit.

Strawberry Tart, Pear Tart & Pistachio Creme Brulee for breakfast anyone?

Then it was over to catch up with family where among many good times we enjoyed a serene joy flight over the Great Ocean Road and the Twelve Apostles. Might I add, serene I was NOT just before the flight (not the bravest of souls sometimes) but really did calm down once we were in the air. There is something so extraordinary about looking down on the majesty of everything without the chatter of everyday noise. And from the girl who "cried before she flied", I would do it again in a heartbeat.

The view out the window of our little 4-seater Cessna (gasp).

After a couple of lovely days in Warrnambool, we all decided to spend our last day/night away back in Melbourne where we got a couple of rooms at The Windsor, not too shabby. May I just say I never want to stay anywhere else in Melbourne again! If it was good enough for Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier it is good enough for me!

The Windsor

It wasn't embarrassing at all when five of us peeled ourselves out of our little rental and toppled onto the street with a multitude of plastic bags and mismatching luggage at this entrance. Not at all.

Yes, the doorman is wearing a top hat.

Smile fellas, ready or not.

The obligatory staircase photo

The Cricketers Bar for pre-dinner drinks.

Just so difficult to get the pre-timed shot right without someone looking like a deer in the headlights. Could someone in the room PLEASE volunteer to take the photo.

The view of Parliament House from the bar window.

The restaurant where we couldn't understand the French accents and fretted that we may have accidentally ordered the $400 bottle of Dom Perignon from the Champagne Menu.

(We hadn't, phew).

Catching up with old friends over a cuppa...

...and an eclair.

Is the 1:30am in the morning self portrait ever a good idea?

As fabulous a break as it was, there is still something comforting about pulling up in your own driveway, it's nice to be back. Home sweet home.

Occasional Tables I

I can't possibly fit in as many side/occasional tables as I would like into our little house (or into this post so have called it Occasional Tables I as have more to share some other time). Am just a little bit bitter as they may very well be my favourite piece of furniture. I'm not crazy about their older sibling the coffee table but I LOVE them. The tiniest of table can make the biggest of impacts, beautiful and practical. I think you should be able to reach out and set a cup down from every seat in your living room and these little pieces are the perfect way to do it I say. Sadly I am not practicing what I preach as I think our little house will burst at the seams if I try and squeeze one more thing in but may I just say, if I can get my hands on one of these from oomph, I'll be giving it a red hot go!

Be still my beating heart!

Pottery Barn #1

Pottery Barn #2 (my favourite of the three from PB)

Pottery Barn #3, something about the shape of this one I like.

Somewhere for Betty to put her cigarettes while debriefing with her shrink on Mad Men.

A friend recently introduced me to Horchow where you can find this lovely one.

The Illusion Table, John Brauer's interesting take on a well known look.

Another one I am desperate to own and would find space for!

I have managed to squeeze one of these into our house.

While we can only see the top of Charlotte York's tablewe know the legs will be just as beautiful (you will get to know that I'm a little bit obsessed with SATC).

One of the many things I like about this reading corner from Something's Gotta Give is the table.

...and the one on the end of the sofa here.

In fact, is safe to say, I want everything in this last room (OK if I'm being completely honest, maybe not the clock or the painting...or the shell). There you have it.

Images from oomph, pottery barn, maison classique, architectural digest, HBO

THE VIEW FROM HERE

So there are two things you should know about me, I love Barack Obama and I love The View. Imagine my ecstasy on finding out that Mr. President was on the show this Friday gone! Barbara came back from her health imposed hiatus, there is no way she was missing this; Joy should be given a job on his PR team, she couldn't gush enough; Whoopi was her usual cool cat self, love Whoopi; Sherri tried her best to ask important questions but couldn't conceal her school girl crush (I don't blame her) and Elisabeth seemed a bit flustered as she tried to tackle him on unemployment. It was great, the guy is unflappable. Naturally the ensuing 'should he or shouldn't he have appeared' controversy is raging on BUT I care not! I loved it. If you didn't catch it, you can watch a couple of highlights here and here.

A good excuse to look at some White House interiors over the years...

JFK Jr. peeks out from under his father's desk in what would become one of the most well known Oval Office images of all time.

President Obama enters The Oval Office on his first full day in office last January.

The president running down the East Colonnade with Bo, the family dog.

Jacqueline Kennedy's Dressing Room.

I love the sofa fabric in the Green Room.

JFK and Jackie in the Blue Room.

Nancy Reagan's study where she refurbished existing White House furniture. Only the gold mirror and the18the century day bed were her additions.

The White House theater, I want one, I want one now.

Michelle Obama with Queen Rania of Jordan in the Yellow Oval Room.

Nancy Reagan in, you guessed it, the Red Room.

My favourite election victory image - the Obamas sharing a "private" moment in a freight elevator at one of the Inaugural Balls.

Images from The Sacramento Bee, The White House Museum, Architectural Digest & Flickr's White House's photostream.