Melbourne wrap up - and farewell for now!

John and I arrived back in Brisbane on Wednesday afternoon after spending the previous five days in Melbourne. We spent the weekend hanging out with our friends from Studio Pounce in Fitzroy, Collingwood and Northcote, and even managed to squeeze in a half-day visit to Melbourne Zoo (yay! giraffes!) before the party at Walsh Street House on Saturday night. On Sunday we enjoyed roast night, pool and ping-pong to celebrate our friend’s birthday at the Panama Dining Room.

Image: Panama Dining Room

On Monday morning I woke up with a terrible cold that it still with me, but nevertheless we made our way to the city for a couple more days of Melbourne fun. We spent a lot of time wandering through the streets and laneways, and ate many a meal in Centre Place and Degraves Street. We had MANY recommendations from locals, so it was very easy to find excellent food and coffee.

Images: The Collector's Marvellous Melbourne

We also spent quite a bit of time looking at art, and visited the Tim Burton exhibition at ACMI for most of Tuesday (our main reason for delaying our honeymoon). We also had a brief visit to the Städel exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, and, of course, we checked out the full Shag exhibition at Outré Gallery. We also popped in to check out the State Library of Victoria. Check our their reading room!

Image: Black Holes and White Walls

I also managed to fit in a little bit of shopping before heading home. I managed to find The Cat’s Meow in Cathedral Arcade, which sells really lovely locally designed clothing. I treated myself to a Berserk top, although I could have bought so much more. I also found a cute little accessories store called Little Salon where I bought myself this little Love necklace (in red). I already have a couple of Love pieces, so another one doesn’t hurt! John also bought me a brooch with a computer on it — somehow I think he might have been having a dig at me. :)

Image: Love

Now is the time for me to sign off for a week. I’ve managed to raise almost $800 for Plan Australia to help the flood victims in Pakistan, so I’m honouring my commitment and logging off for a week starting tomorrow morning. The appeal is still open for those who still wish to help out (I’ve also updated the information and included a new video from Plan about their work). Bye for now!

Beautiful wedding gifts

Apologies for the hiatus - I was off getting hitched. :)

In addition to the charity donations, honeymoon contributions and gift cards we received for our wedding, we also received some very special gifts. I am still in awe at some of them, as they show just how much thought our friends put into giving us something that we'd truly love now and into the future.

My best friend Rebecca bought us this absolutely stunning Dinosaur Designs vase. It's the perfect colour for us, and I think I've found it a home where I'm not likely to knock it over (I hope!). 

Our friends Angelina and Michael got us this Alessi Firenze clock, designed by Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni. The Castiglioni brothers designed the Arco lamp that I want so badly. Even though I know I'll never afford a real one (only a replica), at least now I can say that we own a Castiglioni clock!

The lovely Terese at designed to a T knows how much I love Florence Broadhurst designs, and she made us some wall panels using the red Circles and Squares wallpaper design. My jaw almost hit the floor when I opened this gift! I've placed the panels above our reading chair in the bedroom.

Another gift that has made it's way into the bedroom is from Fiona and Ryan at Studio Pounce. They went and bought us a limited-edition Maiden Voyage pillowcase set designed by Sarajo Frieden from Third Drawer Down. Purdy.

And, finally, we got some very stylish gifts for the kitchen as well. The Maxwell & Williams casserole dish is from our neighbours, Merv and Margaret. The very cool (and very sharp) Tramontina knife block was bought by my sister Kristy, her fiance Jason, and Jason's mother Iris.

And now a new feline friend!

This fellow came to me this week courtesy of the cool kids at Studio Pounce in Melbourne.

The lucky cat is one of several Studio Pounce works in our home, and he was originally hand-printed as a Christmas card using a mini Gocco screenprinter.

Image: Studio Pounce

Image: Studio Pounce

Stay tuned for a comprehensive run-down on our other Studio Pounce pieces in the coming weeks!