Taps, taps and more taps!

We are about to undertake a kitchen renovation and I have started looking at appliances and accessories we will need. It is amazing how much choice there is but I have to say that the number of taps available is just ludicrous! Today we were down at E&S Trading and it blew my mind just how many options (read questions I had to answer) about taps.

Tap or mixer? We went mixer and then it got really hard.........

Square or rounded (they call it gooseneck)? Rounded is for me and I refuse to call it gooseneck
Fixed or retractable? Retractable is surely better for cleaning the sink
Spray or no spray? I really don't care either way
Light or no light? Seriously, who needs a light in their tap to show whether you have it on hot or cold?

I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

So where did I end up? Well nowhere really, Mr B and I could not come to a decision. The one I liked was $1000! Yes that's right, for a tap - I'll go with Lisa (she is the designer) and she can translate the sales speak into what will actually be useful!

I just want a tap.......

Hopefully not all decisions will be this hard!!

Hunting for George Launch party

I'm not much of a weeknight party girl but this week Hunting for George hosted thir launch party on Wednesday night and I just had to attend - to support a friend of mine, Jo, one of the sisters behind the label. Another mum with a business named after their first born bubba (Georgia - check her out below, she is a treasure!) Jo and her sister have put together a gorgeous website with even more gorgeous stuff to buy.

At the moment I am in love with the new porcelain jewellery range and can't decide (as usual) between the simple cream long necklace or the more statement red one

Check out their website - http://huntingforgeorge.com.au/

Reissued

I found Reissued at Magnolia Square market on Saturday and loved a number of their pieces. I searched the internet for them and found their Flickr stream and a description on them which I have included below:

Reissued restyles vintage/retro furniture and other products for the home. Furniture, which has lost its appeal, is reused, through restoration and/or renewal of its original design credentials. Other second hand goods for the home are selected and given a new purpose, i.e. tablecloths to pillowslips or pictures to cushion covers.

But to me Reissued is more than restyled furniture. They provide timeless pieces that are returned to their original grandeur with a modern/ retro feel. Here are just a few of the things I love.

There seems to be a red theme going on!

But I'm sad to say no purchase to be had yet. I'm getting a new sofa soon and have to wait until its in before I can choose what else is going to fit!

Magnolia Square Market

We have put in an application to have a stall at Magnolia Square Market later this year so on Saturday we thought we would head down to St Kilda Town Hall to check it out. It was a great day for two reasons:

1. There were heaps of wonderful things to buy
2. It was the first time I saw an Olives Tree bib 'in the wild' - it was very exciting, we were strolling around and there was a little girl with one of our Dandelion Flowers dribble bibs on.

But back to the wonderful things I bought.

Little Bird photography had a special for a photography session and a print so I bought one for Olive for her second birthday and hopefully by the time Lisa books it in Bubba2 will be here so they can do a dual session.

Reissued had some amazing pieces and whilst I didn't buy anything from them (yet) I did fall in love with a couple of chairs they had but more on that tomorrow - they deserve a whole post I think.

Rabbit and the Duck always have great stuff and I always look but have not yet bought as I can never decide between all the wonderful fabrics they have. I promise myself next time I see them I am going to buy a pencil case. Now do I want the apples, the blossom, or the leaves..............

A new addition to the family

I've been wanting to add to our family for awhile now and its finally time - we are getting a puppy. Mr B & I have been debating over what type of dog is best for us and we have landed on a Miniature Schnauzer (which I've wanted all along really). So whats so good about them?

We first off they don't drop (much) hair! Now this was one of my main criteria, I'm a bit of a clean freak and the thought of dog hair all over the furniture is enough to make me question whether I really want a dog, so minimum hair was #1 criteria!

Next it was about how well the breed deals with kids. Not that I have any of my own (yet) but we have such a big family and there are 13 nieces and nephews to think about!

Then it was about how well the breed will socialise with other dogs. We often look after other dogs for family (sometimes for extended periods) and we often travel to country Victoria to stay with Mr B's family who all have Caveliers and our new puppy would be coming along for the ride so needed to be able to deal with lots of other dogs.

The schnauzer seemed to fit the bill. Good with kids, doesn't drop alot of hair (but does need regular clipping which I am happy to trade for no hair!) and deals with other dogs. Decided!

So we contacted a couple of breeders and ended up choosing one in Ballarat - Dee Lee Schnauzers. Deb, the breeder, was great from the time we ordered a puppy to when we collected her. We received weekly photos and it was amazing to see how quickly our little girl was growing. Check out the first few week pics below.

Just born & eyes not even open yet! Ummm she kinda looks like a bat!

A couple of weeks old, eyes are open and the excitment is building

Perfect pics

I always find it hard when updating the website to get images that are perfect - well impossible really. Lisa and I took a whole heap of pics a month or so ago and whilst they are good - they are not great. So I have been playing around in Photoshop and on photography blogs to see what I can learn.

Today I learnt how to add and remove exposure and whilst I haven't perfected it yet its slowly coming along - Its amazing what you can get out of the help section!

I also finally figured out how to get a white background behind product images! Now this is something I have been trying to do for months and months! And to celebrate here is my first one - only did one, lots and lots more to go but that's for another night

Looking forward to updating the website - oh and did I mention we've got a new design coming, very excited

Peekaboo

Been browsing around the web a bit this weekend which is a bit unusual for me - I generally know what I'm looking for, find and and move on. I am not a browsing on the web or when shopping. So I was very happy when I stumbled across Peekaboo magazine.

Its an online magazine for all things kids and I just really like the way they put it together.

Check it out at: http://peekaboomagazine.com.au/magazine/

Oh and they run competitions so you can win lots of free stuff! Evan better