Breezy and bright

Small things make me happy...

Red

Self-portrait with red and orange dahlias!

Fall colors

It's starting the leaves are changing colors.... Fall will be here before we know it. I found this leaf in the park a few days ago while on a walk with the Hubby. I couldn't get over it's tricolor rasta representation. I wonder if this Autumn will be bright and showy or over too quickly. I always hope for a beautiful display of colorful leaves. Time for cozy jumpers, and scarves, brisk cool air and spicy drinks. I can't wait to make some pumpkin pies!

Changes at Aloha Cottage

Well it's been 3 months since we bought our first house together, aka "Aloha Cottage". The hubby and I  decided to spend two years traveling and taking away jobs (he works in Film and TV) so we could save up a deposit for a house. Our plan worked and after about 6 months of looking for a house online we found this adorable little cottage a stones throw from the Thames. It still feels a bit like a holiday cottage every time we come home, but that's a good feeling right?!

My hubby and I have big dreams for our little place. We decided to call it "Aloha Cottage" in honor of both of our heritages, English/Hawaiian. It's a definite upgrade from it's former name of Warren Lodge, sounds so depressing, we are doing our best to change the feel of the house.

Recently I have spent loads of time online looking for furniture on ebay, so far we have had some fantastic purchases. Two leather sofas, a dining table and chairs, a beautiful star lamp, photos to come!  It's coming together slowly but surely. We have plans to try to change the entry and extend the back, take out a wall dividing the kitchen and dinning room, also add on a bedroom downstairs, turning it into a 3 bed house. We have started tackling some basic redecoration ourselves, one of the upstairs bedrooms is mostly done amazing what a little elbow grease and some paint can do.

It went from this....  BEFORE (check out that hideous light fixture, and the insane amount of wallpaper/paint scraping we had ahead of us!)

and this........

Uggghhh the carpet is just SO bad! So glad we could get it replaced!!!!

To this......... AFTER

We did get the eaves professionally skimmed by a plasterer, but the rest was all us, oh and the carpet was put in by our lovely neighbor, who is a flooring guy (Yay for good neighbors)! The wardrobe was an ebay purchase, as well as the lights. It still needs a few finishing touches but for now it's a great little room, and when I say little I mean little. With the double bed in it you can see how small it actually is. I can not wait to get the second bedroom done, although my husband wants to rip out the door way of the bedroom across the hall and install a sliding door just so that we can gain a few more feet of unused hall space, I think it's a brilliant idea but hopefully not too expensive. These pictures were all iphone photos so they don't totally do the space justice! I will get some better ones next time we are down there, but they give you an idea of what it looks like.

I always love a good before and after don't you! Can't wait to share a few more with you. I think there will be a lot of changes happening at our little cottage, watch this space!

Best cat in the world "Dog"

This is Dog, he is my mom's cat, well we all feel like he is the family cat, although my mom takes care of him. He is the coolest cat in the world, his name is Dog, he acts more like a dog at times than a cat.  When I first heard that my brother had named him Dog, I thought what a strange name for a cat, but as we got to know Dog it turned out to be the perfect name for him. He is a giant tabby with a very friendly disposition. I can't wait to be able to have my own cat, well when my husband and I stop traveling around so much. I wish I could clone "Dog"

Save the date 09 ♥ 02 ♥ 13

I had the privilege of taking these "Save The Date" photos a few months ago... We decided to do them in our "New" backyard... With moody skies and the threat of rain (It totally drizzled a bit) we didn't let that stop us! The couple (friends of ours) are both really fun and creative,  I thought using the balloons for their "Save The Date" was such a great idea. They were a delight to photograph, the balloons on the other hand, were a bit more challenging.

London 2012 Melody's visit

It started out as a typical London day, it was cloudy and gray. Melody and I were in for a real treat. We headed into town to see the sights, prepared, rain coats and umbrellas ready. First stop... Buckingham Place to see the changing of the guards. It was so rainy that I didn't dare take out my big camera, i-phone only at that point. It was so fun to see the palace in real life for the first time. Melody and I were in tourist heaven! We then walked in the pouring rain down towards the river Thames to see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. All of a sudden the sun came out and made everything sparkely and bright. I pulled out my Canon and took some snaps. Then we headed over the bridge down past the London Eye, past the aquarium, where I hugged my local penguin statue.... and up the South Bank. We started getting hungry, so kept our eyes peeled for a typical English Pub. We finally found one on the other side of the Thames, Ahhhh sweet relief.

 The Wellington is where Melody had her first ever English fish and chips, they were delish! I had a burger the size of Mels head as you can see in the picture. We finished our tour of London by heading through Covent Garden Market. There we had a most unusual and delicious popcorn flavoured ice cream, from the Icecreamists,  It was amazing!!!!! After all of the walking around, we were glad to head home on the tube, and train. Sitting feels great when you have spent the day on your feet.  I brought home some treats from the Market,  enormous macaroons they were pretty yummy, the pineapple flavour was the best, go figure!