Start Your Week Off With..

Feeling like an adult & disasters in coffee shops by Sometimes Sweet

The evolution of blogging by Little Chief Honeybee

DIY felt ball garland by Paper Umbrella

Little sea horse family by Take Hart

Have a neat week!

To The Farmers Market We Went

Romy & I spent our Sunday with my sister & brother-in-law at the farmers markets in Newcastle. It has been a while since our last visit, and Romy is a fan of longer trips in the car and is an even bigger fan of her favourite aunty and uncle, so it was a successful day all round. Allan wore Romy in the Baby Bjorn for the first time like a proud uncle, it was really sweet and Romy definitely enjoyed it! She loves people watching, and being out and about in the sun. I didn't buy a lot of fresh produce today because Luke & I haven't planned our meals for the week, but I did bring home some kale, chillies, broccoli and  some asparagus we put on our pizzas tonight. I'm definitely going to be more prepared for next visit to the farmers market! These types of Sundays are my favourite.

Fancy Folk / Paper Umbrella

Have you met Ella?

What lovely things have you crossed off of your 2013 to-do-list?

So far, 2013 has been a crazy year of changes and adventures for me. Right before the year started I graduated from college and started my real adult life (if you can call it that...!) - I've had my first real adult job, co-founded a company in an area I never thought I'd be interested in, left my first adult job, and made big decisions about where I'm going next.  But, I'd say the best thing I crossed off my list this year was traveling around Europe with my boyfriend. It was perfect and now we dream about moving into a tiny apartment in Paris :) Oh, and I finally got around to doing the blog redesign I've been putting off for ages!

Describe your style

My style can be a bit all over the place...I'm still trying to figure it out! During the Summer I can usually be found in a girly dress or skirt with my hair pinned back by a homemade bow. In the Winter my uniform is a comfy knit sweater, jeans and ankle boots. I used to wear mostly black, white, grey and brown, but lately I've been loving wearing neutral outfits with pops of color. I always say that if I could have one store be my closet it would be Urban Outfitters...a girl can dream, right?

What would your menu be for a dinner party that you're hosting?

I think it would be super fun to host an Indian feast where everyone cooks together. To start, we would make some vegetable pakora and drinks to snack on while we cook. It would be fun to come up with a cocktail based on a mango lassi or other flavors commonly found in Indian food. Then, we would make my favorite chickpea and spinach curry and butter chicken curry with rice and fresh roti. For desert we would have a yummy fruit salad.

If you were a cat who would you follow all day in the hope that they would look after you?

It would be fun to sneak around, meeting lots of people and peeking into their lives. But, honestly, at the end of the day I would probably end up back at home. My housemate, Sydney, desperately wants a cat and would give me endless treats and attention.

Your perfect day would be...

My perfect day starts with waking up early on a warm Summer day. My boyfriend and I would walk to our favorite tea shop down the street, grab some bubble tea, and then maybe go sit in the park and do a little reading/writing.  Then we would go into town to do some exploring, and of course stop at food carts for lunch. After exploring we would go to my favorite happy hour and spend the rest of the night laughing with all of my closest friends (who all magically came for a visit at the same time from all over the country/world).

>> Check out Ella's blog,

she has some really cute DIY's

A Long Black For The Night Owl

[ spill the beans ]

For as long as I can remember I have been able to drink late afternoon lattes and can still call it a night quite early. The only good a late night coffee would do me was having to get up and actually make it myself. However the past couple of days that I have had evening coffees (I know, coffee at night is bad but this broken sleep business is tough!) I've been rushing around once Luke & Romy have turned in for the night and have been getting a lot of things done. Last night I did some late night rearranging around the nest, started reading a book, tidied the house, blogged, read up on a couple of things, worked on an illustration and had absolutely everything sorted for our morning routine. By the time I got into bed I was beat, but I used my evening wisely and I fell asleep pretty impressed with my productive evening. I didn't have the guilts about not getting everything done before the day is over. And because I crossed a couple of extra things off of my weekly to-do-list, I was able to have a super relaxed day with Romy today. 

A Little Blogging Rant

When I first started this blog over two years ago, I blogged to an audience of under ten for the first six or so months. As defeating as it was at first, those initial months writing and sharing my daily adventures on this space were really fun. At that point I only really followed a couple of blogs myself and didn't realise that there was such a thing as 'professional' or 'life style' bloggers. Let alone bloggers that made money off of their personal blogs, and for some was a full time job. It was an oddly enticing little universe to become a part of. My first few readers were people I knew personally, and a couple of random lurkers, I didn't know how to get my blog out there or really how to find blogs. The first blog I came across was Sometimes Sweet while I was googling tattoo ideas in an image search. After months of reading it I started my first blog, that has since been deleted, & started to add more blogs to my bookmarks menu. The following year I started Tastes Like Love as a way to motivate myself into being more creative. I wanted a space I could share my illustrations and little bits and pieces of my everyday life and interests on and blogging was the perfect method in which to do so. 

It took me a while to hop on the button swap wagon, and when I did that was when I started to have friendly interaction with other bloggers over this weird little hobby. I also found so many new and exciting blogs to read, and they really inspired my own blogging style and content. It was a whole other different kind of internet universe. Some people find it odd to read about other peoples lives that you have never met or been a part of personally, but it has never struck me as odd and I think that is why I find blogging fun & interesting. I like to read little updates on peoples lives, and see the different styles of fashion in different parts of the world rather than seeing the glazed over, air brushed ad campaign version in a magazine. I have discovered a lot of really neat tv series, movies, bands, online stores and meal ideas through reading blogs. 

There has been days that I've woken up in a really uninspired mood where I struggle to achieve anything productive, and have had a complete turn around after reading how much some bloggers fit into their days. At first blogging was a hobby to motivate me, but overtime has become a part of my day to day life. I've been reading some of your blogs for a couple of years now that I get excited to read updates about Felicity's new blog design business & her latest designs, or read about Peta's new addition to her family. My reading blog list has dwindled over the last couple of months (along with my spare time), as my interests have changed. I used to read all kinds of blogs from all different ages but now that I have Romy, I try to make the very little guilt free spare time I have to read blogs count by sticking to blogs I can most relate to. Fashion based blogs are no longer relevant to me as I would much prefer to read about the trials and tribulations of a first time 'mummy blogger' or indie business bloggers.

I have definitely had days where I have wanted to delete this blog and find something else to occupy my time with, but I am glad that I have kept up this hobby as I have a catalogue of memories to look back through if I choose to. 

Daily Adventures / A lunch date + nesting

Luke, Romy & I had the loveliest day all together. We slept until 9am, got ready for the day at our own pace, played with Romy while we got the pram ready to go for a walk and have a little lunch date. It was a nice, sunny day outside and we were able to sit outside in the lovely sunshine to have our coffees and lunch. Romy was particularly taken back by all the cars driving past the cafe, and would roar out to people walking by. She is just so sweet. After lunch we strolled home and got stuck into one of our nest projects we planned at the start of the year - fixing and painting our antique tea cart. We picked this up when we were living in Newcastle next to some very generous neighbours who liked to give away all kinds of great things. Luke locked himself out of our house one time and had to climb through the window and he landed on the tea cart and broke the top shelf. I was so annoyed that it was broken I wanted to throw it out, but we ended up keeping it and put it on our project nest agenda. We finally had the motivation and time to do it today and I am so glad we did! We had a great afternoon sanding it back and painting it outside with some cheeky drinks. Romy wasn't too keen on helping and decided to have an all afternoon nap instead. 

Start Your Week Off With..

What's your high and low of the day? by Skunkboy Blog

Growing Up: 22 things I've learnt in 22 years by Coffee & Cardigans

Tips for blogging with a 9-5 by Delightfully Tacky

Displaying your kids artwork by Strawberry Mohawk

Enjoy the last week of September, you won't see it again until next year!

Fancy Folk / Pretty Lovely

Have you met Jordyn?

What lovely things have you crossed off of your 2013 to-do-list?

Creating my blog, Pretty Lovely!! This is something I have been wanting to do for a VERY long time, but for some reason just never did it. I decided in December, that come the start of the year I would have a blog. I am so glad I did and just kicking myself for not starting it sooner! Blogging has been so much fun and so rewarding in more ways than I can count. Another thing I crossed off my lovely list was graduate college. Yep. That happened! Go Cougs!

Describe your style

I would describe my style as changing daily but always feminine and girly. I dress to my mood or my surroundings that day. I can never go wrong with a nice flowy dress. Always. If its lace, even better. 

What would your menu be for a dinner party that you're hosting?

My dinner party would take place in the middle of a field underneath a large shade tree with lanterns hanging from it. A bit ambitious but I'm up for the task. It would begin with a fresh salad and the main course would include chicken marinated in italian dressing, garlic mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables. We would end the night enjoying a bowl of frozen yogurt and an array of toppings to choose from. So who wants to come to my dinner party?? 

If you were a cat who would you follow all day in the hope that they would look after you?

Well, I wouldnt want to be a cat. Sorry cat lovers but I'm a dog person. So if I were a dog I would follow around Kate Middleton. Her story is a real life fairytale and who wouldn't want to be a part of that magic? 

Your perfect day would be..

My perfect day would be in the fall and include a storm outside that lasts all day long. A fire going in the fireplace, a book I cant put down and a comfy couch facing a window. After reading my book for the morning, I would want to do something productive in the afternoon like open up an Etsy shop and work on my blog. Once I accomplished my tasks, its back to the couch, storm still in full swing outside. 

>>Check out Jordyn's blog

Currently

[ Follow me on instagram ]

Reading: Frankie magazine back issues. I have about five years worth of issues that I've been working my way through again. Which is slowly turning into a good mistake as I've now added a bunch of new things to my to-do-list. Flicking through the issues from the time I was studying design has reminded me of that period I lived in Newcastle and has given me a burst of illustrative inspiration. 

Watching: Pretty Little Liars. Last week I bought the season three box set and re-watched it. The first time I watched season three was during my c-sec recovery weeks, so I was quite distracted. After watching it for a second time, I found that I missed out on a lot of little details. Straight after I finished the dvds, I watched the first fourteen episodes of the fourth season online and oh my good gosh! 

Listening to: Empire Of The Sun's second album "Ice On The Dune". I wasn't sure their follow up album would be as good as their first, but it is definitely on par. I find Luke Steel to be incredibly creative and intriguing and am always excited by his work. I really hope all the talk of a collaboration with Daniel Johns will come to fruition. 

Thinking about: whether we will re-new our lease when it runs outs early next year. Our neighbours are a bunch of nosey parkers, and it is getting a little too full on. Like spying on us kind of full on. I'll tell you all about it one of these days. 

Working on: a chilli paste jar label. My fancy friend asked me to play around and see what I could come up with for her Dad's chilli paste label to replace the old design. I'm not sure if any of the designs I've come up with will be the finished one, but it sure has been fun playing around with fonts and drawing again. 

Loving: this London based illustrator. I've casually followed her flickr and blog for a while now, check her out she's pretty cute. She also makes some pretty neat wardrobe choices.

Anticipating: tomorrow evening. Luke & I are going out to see our friends band play. It is the first time we've gone out to see live music together in a year, and will be the second night we've had away from Romy. The few times we've been away from Romy either my mum or sister have watched her, but tomorrow one of our friends will be watching her. It's a funny thing to think about, us having to rush home to relieve the babysitter of her duties! 

Cute Blog Headers

I wanted to share a handful of some really neat blogs that have cute blog headers. I know its a bad habit to have, but when I have the time to browse random blogs through comments or button link ups, I generally spend more time reading the blogs with the cute(r) headers. 

Top 5 / Favourite Albums

I don't usually post a lot about the types of music or movies I'm into, 

so I thought I would share my top five favourite albums. Although I have a lot more than five, I picked these five because I never get sick of them.

The National / High Violet  About six years ago I crossed paths with someone I met at a gig who was really into The National and got me into them. I was instantly drawn into their confident mix of moody lyrics and music you could only sway to drunkenly. Their first two albums I listened to on high rotation  for most of 2009. By the time High Violet was released, Luke was on board with The National and liked HV instantly, while I didn't love it straight away. In fact, it took me a good two years to come around to it and now it is one of my favourite albums of all time. If only it could be re-released with 'Karen' & 'Apartment Story' and I would be all set!

She & Him / Vol. Two  A long time ago an internet buddy emailed me this album and it sat in my iTunes for a good 12 months before I listened to it properly. Occasionally it would catch my attention while I was working on my computer and each time I started to like it more and more and would find a couple of the tracks stuck in my head for days at a time. I was completely oblivious to the fact it was Zooey Deschanel's folky howl I couldn't stop listening to. If I ever make mixed cds I always find a space for one of Vol. Two's gems. This album has back to back friendly songs that are hard to tire of. 

Hole / Live Through This  I bought this album when I was 14 and ten years later it is still one of my favourite albums. When I first started listening to bands like Hole and Bikini Kill, they had an energetic burst of sass mouth that I really liked as a teenage girl. When I listen to this album now it reminds me of one of my best friends who I met through our shared love of 90's girl grunge bands. 

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan / Ballad Of The Broken Seas  This album was released right around the time that I first started listening to Belle & Sebastian. I was familiar with Mark Lanegan, but was never too particularly interested in his music. I bought the cd regardless and instantly fell in love with every track. It is a great album to have on in the background of an evening of dinner and drinks. I personally feel the songs on BOTBS are some of Isobel Campbell's better songs, and this is their best collaborative album together.

Cut Copy / In Ghost Colours This album reminds me of my first year living in Newcastle, and having pre-drinks in my bedroom with my friend Ali before going out. Whenever we were out and about driving 'So Haunted' & 'Lights & Music' would always be on JJJ & we used to sing it really loud in an exaggerated lonely boy scenester voice. If I am struggling to find motivation to clean the house or start an illustration, I always put this album on to get things done!

Start Your Week Off With..

DIY Cute striped vases by Art Of The Heart

White chocolate & peanut butter rise crispy cakes by Hips Like Cinderella

A happy list by A Girl Named Leney

Ginger Pear Margarita by Paper Umbrella

Make a treat, paint a vase, drink something exciting and be happy.

Have a great week!

Pin Of The Week

[ over here, dear ]

Oh to wake up on this side of the bed. 

Fancy Folk / This Lovely Little Day

Have you met Lena?

What lovely things have you crossed off of your 2013 to-do-list?

Oh 2013 how wonderful you have been to me so far! I don't have an official list for the year but I started the year celebrating with good friends, got accepted into my teaching program, got an amazing leadership position for the summer, met a nice boy, and was offered a research assistantship by the head of my academic department! Not to mention all of the wonderful weekend trips around the state and beach days with my best friends this year!

Case in point: I'm and extremely lucky girl! :)

Describe your style

My style is pretty transitional but I am certainly inspired by nerdy/hip/bohemian trends! I wear lots of dresses and tons of cardigans! And the one piece I cannot leave the house without is my earrings. I adore earrings! 

I am starting my student teaching experience this semester so I might start a "work style" challenge series as well! I think making the transition to a young professional wardrobe might be a challenge for a lot of us!

What would your menu be for a dinner party you're hosting?

International! Each course would be small and from a different country of origin! As we moved through the courses it would be like a little trip around the world!

(I'm always suffering from the travel bug!)

If you were a cat who would you follow all day in the hope that they would look after you?

Either my boyfriend Will or my best friend Abby... Because they both LOVE cats! But probably Abby because she would take my picture and post it all over Instagram all day long! Haha (I would also spend the whole day with my cat, little Amelia!)

Your perfect day would be...

A day spent with good friends outside... Perhaps we would go on a morning hike or to Lake Michigan! We'd have a picnic and laugh and hangout all day! Afterward we would maybe go for a swim and have a bon fire! S'mores, stargazing, and good company... That's how the night would end!

As long as I would be with all the people I love and care about than it would be the perfect day! :)

>> Check out Lena's blog

A Solid Effort

On Tuesday Romy had her first round of solids. I've been really nervous about this new stage because once you start, its full steam ahead. We made up a tiny amount of rice cereal, and she wasn't too keen on it. Whether it was because I made it too thick or because it wasn't a milkshake meal, either way the whole experience was a tad overwhelming for the little bear. The spoon was confusing and she was unsure about what to do first time around. On Wednesday I made the rice cereal again, only a lot thinner and Romy still wasn't too impressed. So today rather than go for third time lucky, I mashed up a teeny bit of avocado and it was much more successful! I distracted Romy with her little stuffed green haired friend so she wasn't focusing too hard on the spoon, and found this to be helpful in getting the spoon in her mouth with ease. By the third or so mouthful, the spoon fed concept was starting to get a little easier for her and she started to really enjoy it. My sister called while I was feeding her and suggested I put a little bit of avocado on my finger and feed it to her that way and this worked a treat also. The time for solids came around so quickly I have hardly had much time to really prepare for it. When older parents tell you to enjoy every single minute because they grow up so quickly, they certainly were not lying!

September Wish List

Typo 'punch on' purple jug set

Kate Spade 'grove court maise' shamrock/true navy

Stay Home Club logo t-shirt

A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book

Salt Water Sandals

Just The Three Of Us

Luke's 'weekend' is Monday & Tuesday, so for those days we usually spend one of them at home and the other out and about. On Monday we visited my Aunty at her holiday house she has on the coast and we all had some tasty Thai for lunch. And today we stayed at home, just the three of us. After Romy's early morning milk shake, I put her back to bed and quietly had a shower and got ready for the day without waking either of my sleeping bears. I did a quick tidy up, some laundry, set Romy's bath up and went to the shops to pick up some breakfast supplies. By the time I hung out some washing and bathed Romy our breakfast became a brunch that we were able to enjoy while Romy was busy playing and practicing her rolling techniques. After brunch Romy had her first solid, which I will blog here during the week. We blew bubbles together after our nap and Luke made a fresh batch of ice tea in the afternoon. It was really nice all being together at home without any distractions. 

Start Your Week Off With..

Baked pumpkin sugared cinnamon donuts by Wtphunk

The magical couple by Pink Milk & Cookies

Broke folk iced coffee by We Live Upstairs

All about you by Lark & Lace

Have a lovely week!

How was your week?

This week Romy wore her first t-shirt now that the days are a little hotter, and she rolled for the first time! I packed away a lot of her clothes that no longer fit and have started to put some '00' sized pieces in her clothing rotation. She also sat in her first car seat now that she has outgrown the capsule carrier. A lot is happening on the Romy front lately, so this week I've been preoccupied spending all my free time with her enjoying all these changes. And when Romy goes to bed in the evenings, I've been re-watching season 3 of Pretty Little Liars. It is so bad in all the right ways!

On Tuesday evening we had dinner at a friends house and Romy was the perfect little bear. She slept the whole car drive there and back, and only woke to have her dinner milk shake half an hour before we left. We have had a couple of bad nights during the week because of her teething, but in general this week has been great! Romy & I had a coffee date with our friends Renee & her baby boy Oscar, I stocked up Romy's spring wardrobe, my sister & brother-in-law visited on Saturday and we got a lot of little things done throughout the week. Luke & I are spending our Sunday evening with home made cheese burger pizza, grown up ginger beer & Napoleon Dynamite. Was your week lovely too?