Friday, April 30, 2010

Brigadeiro's Recanto (Part 1)


1001 apologies to 'Demanding Anon', who requested a post on my 'interior decorating/house' all the way last year...I had taken these pictures shortly after her request, but was not happy with them, and then my house changed around quite a bit with the addition of hubby's surround sound system - (not happy with how it looks!), the addition of a new/vintage sofa, and most recently, complete reshifting of furniture to make room for a 'nursery'.

My house is an old (1900's) double-fronted cottage, and as cute and homey as it is, we are finding it to be a little too small nowadays (how does one accumulate so much in just a few years?). Since it will take another long period for me to take updated photos, I thought I would share these old photos in the meantime...


The hideous grey couch (barely pictured) has thankfully since been replaced by a Danish midcentury chocolate leather 3-seater. LOVE my alpaca rug under the coffee table...it is incredibly soft! Everyone who visits loves taking their shoes off to feel the rug under their toes...we came across alpaca rugs in a fancy furniture store, with a fancy price tag, so hubby & I scoured the internet and saved a few hundred dollars by ordering it from Peru. I am not a fan of the ugly old gas heater in our sitting room, but since it is functional (and oh so great in wintertime), we will not be replacing it until it 'conks'. On the coffee table you may see my Agate & Rosewood coasters from Brazil. The 'TV cabinet' is from IKEA and I was SO happy when I saw it in the catalogue, as I did not like a single cabinet I had seen prior to that...love the glossy red colour and simple design.

The chocolate leather midcentury modern Danish sofa has a large Ikea striped pillow on it, and the most gorgeous satin embroidered pillow I bought from London Convent Garden store 'Koh Samui' (before it closed down, boo hoo!).

LOVE our Hans Wegner Y-Chairs (aka Wishbone chairs) - we bought six of these in Oak from Denmark, and it was a nightmare to get them over here...but worth it in the end.

Also designed by Hans Wegner, we bought his 'Andreas Tuck' coffee table (ours is the 'oak' version of the one pictured above) from my uncle's store (back when he stocked Danish furniture, now he focuses purely on his own amazing designs).

I bought this painting on Ebay and love it, nothing fancy/pricey...but I absolutely love cherry blossoms and 'gold' gradient background...

I am not a fan of mirrors, but hubby really wanted one for the house, and I could never find one I liked...he came across this mirror by a local designer, and was so excited to show it to me...all 9 squares are angled differently (yet fixed), giving it an unusual reflection. Reflected in the mirror is the painting I bought in Parati during my last trip to Brazil (same artist as the one who painted the picture further below).

I have lots of cookbooks in my kitchen...not that I use them all (usually I only cook a couple of recipes from each, if that...I mostly cook recipes from the internet/food blogs!). Also, due to lack of storage space in our kitchen, we store a lot of items in big Ikea baskets on top of the kitchen cupboards...when we moved in we had planned to renovate the outdated kitchen & bathroom...but 5 years on, and we have not lifted a finger in that direction.

Ikea placemats

Instead of saying "dinner's ready" like most families, I grew up with my family saying: "comer, comer"! Which essentially means "eat, eat"...Even though hubby does not speak Portuguese, he has picked up on my 'family tradition', and we thought we'd spell it out on our kitchen wall...The painted wooden letters look crooked in the picture due to the angle it was taken.

I have already posted a picture of this painting of Parati (my favourite place in the world, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro) with a midcentury Danish oak filing cabinet, teak candlesticks and pottery (gifts from my uncle), here is a bigger picture of it all, which sits in my 'corridor'. I am only babysitting this painting for my parents while they live in Brazil, but absolutely love it...here is a picture of the actual place the painting is based on.

I am a fan of interesting pieces that come from around the world, reflecting our experiences and travels...this one was given by our friends who spent a few weeks in Africa.

Danish lamps we have on our Arne Vodder bedside tables (also purchased from my uncle's store), we meant to have them wired to the wall, but the electrician said it was incredibly tricky to do...such a shame! Hopefully we still get to mount them in the near future...

Thanks again for your lovely well-wishes! Still no baby (as from the time this is posted), but I have my brother-in-law's wedding tomorrow, so perhaps that is a good thing...

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Lula Magazine Issue 10 - Strawberry Shortcake & Friends!




As a Strawberry Shortcake & Co. fan, I was absolutely delighted with the Lula editorial featuring modern-day versions of these cartoon characters, as interpreted by top designers such as Erdem Moragliou, Charles Anastase, Alberta Ferretti...

Even though I was given a 'Lemon Meringue' doll (which 'exhaled' a Lemon Meringue smell when you squeezed her belly), my favourite character was 'Blueberry Muffin'...probably because purple was my favourite colour at the time...LOVE 'Blueberry Muffin's' Cacharel outfit below! I also love 'Plum Pudding's Philosophy dress and Tabitha Simmons wedges (such a shame about the £775 price tag). How cute are all the striped stockings?


Kim Noorda as 'Strawberry Shortcake' in Charles Anastase

Addison Gill as 'Blueberry Muffin' in Cacharel dress SS'10


Kate Somers as 'Rasberry Tart' in Sonia Rykiel SS'10



Charlotte di Calypso as 'Lemon Meringue' in Moschino Cheap & Chic

style.com

Liu Wen as 'Plum Pudding' in Philosophy by Alberta Ferretti SS'09



Giedre Dusauskaite as 'Lime Chiffon' in Erdem

Chanel Iman as 'Orange Blossom' in Kenzo dress

Which one is/was your favourite character?

Monday, April 26, 2010

Autumn Leaves...of red & gold

Well, it turns out last weekend's 'Last Hoorah' celebration was a little premature...another weekend has come & gone and...no 'action' as yet. So, to appreciate another weekend as a 'twosome', hubby & I took a drive to the Hills for a nice lunch...


Chocolate oatmeal stout (beer) on the menu! Must try that next time...

Red deer osso bucco with herbed mash and roasted tomato

Loved the decor...

House-made oxtail ravioli with a rich shiraz glaze

I did not notice the coin on the seat until now...

I was still hungry after my ravioli, so hubby & I shared this as our 'dessert': Wagyu burger with bacon, salad, cheese, house-made beetroot (beetroot in burgers is a very Aussie thing), horseradish sauce & tomato chutney on a sourdough bun.

Chloe grey marle hoodie with silk flower appliques (worn with a silly expression on my face...)

I had almost forgotten it was Autumn until I saw the gorgeous Autumn leaves in the Hills...it has been so warm (up until this day), that it almost still felt like Summer.


For dinner we roasted a leg of lamb, substituting the beer from the recipe taken from the Stonesoup with a Charles Melton's Sparkling 'Brute Peche', with a dash of 'Samuel's Gorge Shiraz'...Such a simple recipe yet so goooood....

Now I am off to finally see Tim Burton's 'Alice in Wonderland'...I can safely say I have never been to the movies this early (10:30am), but I have left it so late in watching this movie that it is the only session!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Strike a Pose - Vogue!


I believe I may have already mentioned my love for TV programme 'Glee', anyone else here a fan? I recently came across this 'video clip' of 'Sue Sylvester' doing Madonna's 'Vogue', and find it to be absolute GOLD!



Hope this puts a silly grin on your face, as it did on mine!

Have a great weekend everyone!

xx


Thursday, April 22, 2010

Brigadeiro's Maternity/Pregnancy Style post revisited


Thank you so much for your positive feedback and emails on my recent post on Maternity/Pregnancy Style tips, and also for all your well-wishes and sweet comments!

A few readers asked whether it was possible to dress stylishly whilst pregnant with a smaller budget than examples I selected from net-a-porter, and of course you can! I used those examples as I find NAP easiest to search for with clear pictures. The aim of my post was to show that many of us can get away with going through pregnancy without having to add many pieces to our wardrobe, by just selecting items we already have, wearing them with good basics/staples and accessorizing...

I have found some further examples from Witchery (Australian high street store - loved the striped cardigan, although I find AUS$150 a little steep for a Witchery cardi), Topshop and Matches Fashion (usually a higher-end online store, but I selected some items on the lower end of the priceline). Most of these items are not actual maternity wear (I think only 2 may be actual 'maternity' pieces, from Topshop). Clicking on each picture should take you to the actual website where you can purchase these items (or see better/bigger pictures). Apologies if the items selected are repetitive...

Cardigans





Vests/Tops






Leggings & Pants



Topshop trackpants & Sportmax silk-mix draped pants
(love these!)

Dresses





Vanessa Bruno Cotton-Mix Jersey Dress & American Vintage Jersey Maxi dress

It is definitely worth going through your 'normal' wardrobe to identify any items that you currently have that will be 'usable' during pregnancy...jersey dresses that drape or skim the body, elasticated waists or empire-line tops and dresses, yoga/pilates pants & leggings, stretchy long tops or dresses...

I am going through a similar process at the moment, except now I am trying to ID items that may come in handy in the next stage...nursing!