by Catherine on August 31, 2011
{Mink Pink palazzo pants • vintage linen jacket, bag, necklace • Topshop tee • Andre Assous metalic medges}
For weeks now Mr. Spring has been telling me to wait for the first big thunderstorm to signal the start of spring. Sure enough, last night the skies opened up with a mighty crack, so I feel confident this morning in declaring that palazzo pant season is officially open! There’s something so deliciously languid about palazzo pants that they require bright sun, humidity, and balmy breezes so even if you’re wearing them to the office you still feel that you’re on vacation in Antibes, or Marrakesh, or somewhere equally where glamorous where the idle rich have been known, historically, to swan around in wildly flowy trousers. In real life I plan on living in this swooshy pair* teamed with billowy tees and tanks on the weekend, sensible silk blouses for work, and always the highest heels I can muster to balance out all that wonderful crimson volume! Addios winter!
*click here for a great offer from the chic boutique where I picked them up! Brisbane girls only!)
by Catherine on August 30, 2011
Over the weekend I gave this baked brie/serving board recipe/DIY a trial run for an upcoming party. The whole set up involves a number of my favourite elements – chalk board paint, an assembly of the kitchen bric-a-brac I’m always picking up from markets and charity shops, and a generous serving of oozy, melty cheese encased inside a fluffy, golden brown pastry wrapper.
Making the serving board was as simple as wiping clean an old melamine shelf, spraying it with chalkboard paint, and leaving it to cure overnight.*
Putting together the baked brie was just as easy: in fact, I can’t think of a more impressive, party-worth dish that requires less skill and attention to detail. Just defrost one sheet of puff pastry, set the cheese in the middle of it, spoon some apricot preserves over the top, then fold the pastry up around the cheese, pinching along the seams to create a seal. Place on a baking sheet and pop in a medium oven for about 20 minutes, until golden and flakey. (You’ll likely need to lay some foil over the top of the pastry so it doesn’t burn while the bottom and sides cook through.)
I served the baked brie on my Attia cutting board with the beloved mouse shaped cheese knife that Mr. Spring and I found in the drawer of our first very own apartment. To accompany the molten cheese I served cut granny smith apples, sweet juicy pears, walnuts, dried cranberries, more apricot preserves, grapes, and fingers of toasted baguette, all in their own prettily eclectic containers, all labelled in chalk on the serving board. The combination of gooey and crisp textures, saltiness, and sweet flavours make this a truly satisfying party platter or, made on a smaller scale, a deliciously decadent casual weekend meal.
*For tips on using chalk board paint, click here.
by Catherine on August 29, 2011
{Current inspiration for dressing. 1. Yen Magazine issue 51, 2011, 2. 3. 4. Russh Magazine Aug/Sept 2011}
by Catherine on August 26, 2011
Last night I had the absolute pleasure of attending the fabulous opening bash for Dreaming of Chanel, running from 26 August -16 October at the QUT Art Museum. I had never been to the gallery before, and was pleasantly surprised to find it housed in a lovely colonial building set on the elegant palm lined avenue following on from George St’s south end. The space, the stylish crowd, and the circulating champagne formed the perfect backdrop for an exhibition that tickled my fancy and captured my imagination. Dreaming of Chanel features around sixty incredible garments collected over a lifetime by Doris Darnell, a Quaker from Pennsylvania. Doris passed her passion for exquisitely crafted vintage clothes and love for the stories of the women who wore them on to her god-daughter, Charlotte Smith. In 2004 the collection itself passed into Charlotte’s hands and has since grown to contain thousands to items dating from 1790 – 1995. Smith has dedicated her own career to cataloguing the clothes, the stories, and commissioning the charming fashion illustrations by Grant Cowan that accompany each piece of Dior, Pucci, Chapman, Westwood, Quant, and Chanel on display in the exhibition and in her books. What these garments share in common is their classic beauty; they enhanced the women who wore them, making her look and feel more feminine, more dignified, more dazzling. In a world filled with disposable fashion, these principles of great style are well worth remembering.
by Catherine on August 25, 2011
by Catherine on August 25, 2011
{Vintage crystal necklace from the 1950s, found at the Woolloongabba Antiques Centre, Stall #55}
You know when you have the vague idea of a beautiful thing forming in your mind… so you search for it out in the real world… and never seem to quite find it… but you won’t settle for imperfection… and then you see it… and it surprised you a little… because it’s even more lovely than how you imagined… and it’s right there in your hand… don’t you love when that happens?
by Catherine on August 24, 2011
Sometimes a girl just needs to get on her bike with a fresh stack of fashion magazines in her wicker basket and peddle off to a sunny spot at a lovely cafe and order herself up a treat… and when that sometimes comes around lately it’s hard to look past the incredibly indulgent lemon bars with the most perfect icing at Lady Marmalade, Stones Corner. Discovering my new favourite baked good at this tiny gem of a place lying just off the bikeway isn’t doing my it’s-almost-summer-slim-down regime any favours, but hey, the two medium sized hills on the way home must balance something out. Warning: Suburban Brisbane cafes close early – so be sure to get ‘exercising’ before 3pm!
by Catherine on August 23, 2011
The Mercedes Benz Fashion Festival is on all this week in Brisbane! I got into the spirit yesterday for free at the noon fashion parade in Queen Street Mall (where Queen intersects with Albert St.) Everyday a key trend for the upcoming season will be showcased at the luncheon ‘fashion flash’. Clearly, Monday was all about wow-pow acid brights. It was quintessential Queensland: blaring, brash, hot, and refreshingly unpretentious. The looks mixed tropical fantasy with more accessible wearability by showcasing styles on offer from retailers in the mall. It was great fun, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the diverse notes of Brisbane fashion scene, from the kooky-beachy to the sharply sophisticated, will be interpreted in the displays to come. For event listings for the rest of the week, click here!
by Catherine on August 22, 2011
Biking to Balmoral had been Mr. Spring’s idea, and after freshening up back at home (nothing beats helmet hair like hot rollers!) it was time for my contribution to romance. We drove our tired pins down to Woolloongabba and I introduced my hot date to Canvas, a sophisticated bar I love for its chilled out ambience (I never have to shout over a deafening soundtrack), the excellent wine list, and its menu of beautifully presented, irresistibly yummy nibbles. After a couple late afternoon drinks we moved down Stanley Street to sample the woodfired offerings at Vespa Pizza. It pays to be an early bird at places as popular as Canvas and Vespa – by the time the crowds descended we were well satiated and had moved on to our night cap – a stroll along South Bank to take in the freshness of the river and twinkling city views.
{DIY leather shorts, vintage silk shirt and satchel, charity shop animal print knit}
by Catherine on August 21, 2011
{Mr. Spring on the Norman Creek bikeway – suave and helmeted, according to the law.}
In a beautiful city like Brisbane there are a thousand romantic day dates to be had on the cheap. This weekend Mr. Spring and I took to our cycles and discovered the bike track that runs from our home near Toohey Forest all the way along Norman Creek, and out to Balmoral. We peddled past mangroves, dozens of flowering trees, an impressive bat colony by Coorparoo State High, and were rewarded after a final push up to Wynnum Road by breathtaking city and river views. From the crest it was an easy coast down to Riding Road where we canoodled over tea, coffee and the weekend papers at a new favourite spot, The Pompidou Cafe. (The tea, by the way, came in a pot the size of my head – love that!) As the lunch service started I noticed the food looking incredibly delicious, but we demurred as big dinner plans were already afoot… stay tuned for Great Brisbane Dates Part II!
