Quick and easy bathroom makeover.

Last Friday morning after a few weeks of being lazy, Candice and I decided to attack the 2nd bathroom. We bought timber blinds for this room months ago and have had the paint sitting around for even longer. To be honest, a big part of my motivation for doing this room makeover was that I would be able to do my very first before and after blog post.

We don't have hoards of money laying around so this make over was not so much a reno but a facelift. Fresh paint, some awesome artwork and a few cute bits and pieces.

This is a before photo of the bathroom. I forgot to take the photo before I started taping up around the window frame to paint it so that's what all the green lines are.

Before:

The paint we chose for the repainting of the walls is called Athens and was made by Wattle. The white we used for the trimmings was just the standard white option also made by Wattle. We have used it throughout most of the house and I really like how clean the colour combination is. We chose a neutral colour so that our furniture and other house items didn't clash with it. Success!

We were given this cute little canvas at our engagement picnic. I really ADORE whales so I couldn't wait to find a place in our house to hang this. The bathroom door is now perfect.

I wish I had of snapped a picture of the towel rail that was in this bathroom before we ripped it out of the wall. It was pretty gross. The whole house came with a peachy cream colour theme. From the walls/architraves to the kitchen tiles to the bathroom railings. While we can't afford to rip up the kitchen tiles right now, we can replace the smaller things. We bought this shiny new double towel rack as well as a hand towel ring from Masters Hardware and together they cost us under $50. That's what we call a bargain.

This small shelf unit filled the bare space next to the mirror. We found it at one of those $2 stores, the Reject Shop to be precise. Our nail polish now has a home, yay. It was the perfect size and was only $15. 

Candice also discovered the cute little ducks for the ridiculous price of $1.99 for a pack of 6 so of course we just had to get them. 

We are lucky enough to have some pretty damn talented friends. The prints above are the result of a collaboration between Clarissa Bones (aka Raw Bones) and IC Pool called Flesh. Pretty damn incredible.

After:

The end result... What do you think?

A change is in the air

A brand new shiny year has just begun and I have decided to start making an effort and actually blog on here again. My ever so talented wife has offered to clean up Paperdoll and make it pretty for me. Even with just the few changes she has made so far I'm already really inspired, yay!

The last 6 months have been mostly up but at times a little down. After years of talking about it, my partner and I have started the process into starting our family. It's really been quite mind consuming for me and at times I've felt like a crazy person. It's almost as if something snapped in me and now it's all I can think about – baby, baby, baby.  

All. The. Time.

I have decided to keep all the lesbian baby making details off this blog as I would like this space to be somewhere I can go to escape from my infant obsessed brain. Somewhere I can share stories, music, hopes, food, craft projects, odd memories and all the other parts of my life that don't involve trying to conceive. I have another blog kept nice and separate from this one where I'm documenting our family to be, so if you are interested in finding out more about that then you can head on over and have a read at www.ladyladybaby.com.

Pretty sure I have mentioned in the past that I always try to set myself a yearly challenge. Last year I didn't set myself one and I ended up regretting the fact. All I need to do this year is keep a book and make a record each day of something good that happened to me or something I'm grateful for. Just a couple of sentences describing a positive aspect of my day. Big or small. So this year I'm back on track and even though my challenge itself is pretty simple, keeping up with it daily might prove to be difficult. Time shall tell.

Today is day one and so far I'm succeeding! Go me.

My first breakfast of the new year, below. Take me back there, yum.

I'll be jumping back and forth between my 2 blogs but I promise to be a little more regular with my posts than I have been over the last year. You have my word.

<3

F-word... Friday!

Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend ahead of them.

Mine is going to be very low key and I cant wait.

Lots of quiet, cute tunes and perhaps some more painting.

This one has been a favourite as of late.

Thelma Plum - Around here

Why don't we have trams in Brisbane damn it.

Happy weekend all

♥

Waterfalls, lunch dates and picnics.

Those 10 days I had off work went way too fast.

Most started with a massive sleep in.

Splendid.

Thought I would share a few photos taken... not of us sleeping.

Those taken out and about.

We had never been down to Lamington National Park to see the Natural Arch

so we put that at the top of our list.

I have to say it's quite spectacular!

We also like to eat.

So off to Harajuku Gyoza for a mid week lunch date we went.

Yum...

Then came the very special engagement picnic.

A few of our friends decided to put us up in an apartment for the weekend.

This meant we wouldn't have to rush around on Saturday morning

and could wine and dine ourselves silly the night before.

We decided on the Powerhouse for drinks to watch the sun disappear,

then headed downstairs to Watt Restaurant a bit later for dinner.

 

 

The next morning was so sunny and blue we couldn't believe our luck.

It started off with really good coffee and a delicious breakfast at Vue in New Farm

before heading down to set up for the picnic.

We even saw a gentleman out for a ride on his penny farthing.

This more than made my morning.

 

 

The whole day stayed gorgeous and we drank, ate and chatted to friends.

Some of who we don't always get to see too often.

It was pretty special and the whole day meant a lot.

We made almost all the props ourselves and recieved quite a few compliments.

Especially on the sign.

 

The next morning it was time to check out of the place we were staying and head home.

We were feeling pretty tired and bit hungover.

We quickly realised the smartest thing we could do was to throw down a blanket and soak in the sun.

Partner this with water, coffee, hot chips and someone you love,

you have a yourself a tried and proven hangover cure.

 

 At that point I was feeling pretty fucking happy.

Then my love frizbees a card my way.

I thought it must have been a card from one of the guests from the picnic

but it was from her. 

'Marriage lets you annoy one special person for the rest of your life'

♥

I can't wait.

 

♥

 

Bitter sweet.

It's been a few weeks since I last posted.

Reason being is that life has been pretty uneventful.

 Right now I'm counting down the next 3 days until I have 10 consecutive days off work.

Yewwwwww.

 To be honest it's a little bitter sweet.

Candice are I were supposed to be heading to Japan for a short holiday.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be.

The third party that we were going to be travelling with

had to cancel last minute due to passport issues.

Poor dude was born in a country that doesn't actually exist anymore so

getting that damn passport proved harder than first anticipated.

The whole trip has now been postponed.

Until when? Who knows.

 So while I'm thrilled to have time off work, we don't really have any exciting plans.

I few horrible suggestions include:

• Painting the interior of the house
• Unpacking more boxes
•  Mowing the lawns
• Wash Luna because she is starting to smell like a hamster.

Yeah, you recognise the bitter part yet?

 

To be perfectly honest with you, I don't see us achieving ANY of those.

(exception being the dog washing... I have an extremely 

sensitive sense of smell and dogs that smell like hamsters are unbearable)

We're way too good at procrastinating and much prefer

sleeping in, drinking late and other such gluttonous behaviour.

So there you have the bitter part.

 

The sweet part is due to:

 

 (a) not being at work, and

(b) my lovely and I are finally having a little engagement picnic

 

That's right folks.

One of us, who shall remain nameless, proposed last year.

The other said yes.

However, for quite some time it was a rather depressing subject for us,

given that we couldn't actually get married. 

>sad face<

But recently our lovely little neighbour island, New Zealand, legalised gay marriage.

Now, I know that it won't be recognised in Australia.

But you know what? We have been in this relationship for six and half years. 

We've loved and supported each other, 

grown and learnt from mistakes,

helped each other through grief,

and above all stayed strong.

So to you, the Australian government, I firmly raise my middle finger.

While you may not legally recognise it our vows, 

I dare you to tell me that my heart won't be married.

 

 ♥

Where art thou Lantern

So you may have seen in a previous post that I want to 

let go a floating lantern into the night sky.

It may just be some weird girly hormone but the following video made my eyes produce tears.

Not many, but a salty liquid was most definitely leaking from my eyes.

Just the idea of letting go.

Any lingering sadness, insecurities, criticisms, grief...

Then just absorbing the beauty of it.

I feel that I need this now.

My life is really jam packed with goodness these days.

However, I still want to make room for more by 

ridding myself of all the negative emotions I carry around.
I want to fill the inside of my lantern with everything bad that has ever happened to me,
every horrible thing that I've convinced myself I deserve
and then let that beautiful golden fucker float far, far, far away.

Oh lantern, when can I let you go?

11,000 paper lanterns from Dorothy Snarker on Vimeo.

Chords get struck

Tonight I heard a song that I really felt.

Not a happy feeling, I suppose.

But cords were definitely struck.

She sings with such sorrow and has the power to

squeeze my little heart with her words.

I'm sure every song has it's own meaning to the ears that listen.

For me, this song takes me back to my past.

A relationship that continued to exist even though it had really ended for both of us.

Feeling safe yet unhappy in her arms.

Not wanting to inflict hurt.

Afraid of moving on.

Knowing that our love was slowing morphing into an unknown hate.

Yet the moments of happiness feel like enough to stay together.

It hurts less than ending.
 But it's hard to forget how messed up our relationship became in the end.

Wendy.

I'll always wish she was here

and I will forever wonder if we could have been friends by now.

 I'll never stop mourning her and the life she had waiting.

 I imagine her with the girlfriend she craved and deserved.

The life she should have lived.

Sometimes the past is difficult to visit.

Daughter - Still