So I took a little mid-week road trip to the country this week (nothing too exciting, it was just for a work meeting).

Sadly there was no time to poke around the op shops and thrift stores, but I did manage to sneak in a couple of photos along the way ...

I absolutely adore the gorgeous homewares, stationery and accessories created by wonderful Australian label, Mozi.

In a recent (very brief) shopping excursion to Myer I treated the house (and me) to four of their beautiful 'origami' soaps.
It was way too difficult to resist the beautiful packaging, lovely fragrant soaps and two-for-the-price-of-one offer!!

These triple-milled soaps not only do an excellent job at softly cleaning the skin, they also look pretty - surely an unbeatable cleansing combination!

Bad spelling and the incorrect use of grammar are two things that really, really bother me. They don't just bother me a little, they bother me a whole lot - often to the point where I can become irrationally angry at those who let such a thing go to print. Take for example this issue of Notebook magazine from a few months back. On the cover of the magazine they highlight an article featuring 'Sean Micallef'. On turning to the article in question, it seems that 'Sean' has now magically become 'Shaun'.

Now there are a few possibilities to explain this name change:

(1) The editor is incompetent.
(2) The editor likes to cover all possibilities.
(3) Sean / Shaun likes to shake things up.
(4) Sean / Shaun is confused about his own name.

Personally I'm tending towards option (1) being the winner. While (3) is funny and therefore possible, I think Micallef is capable of greater comedic efforts than this. Being a smart guy, I'm pretty sure that (4) doesn't fit either. That leaves (2), which just seems a little unrealistic to be honest.

All I ask for in any printed publication is a little consistency, especially when it comes to the cover ... Surely that isn't too much to ask?

The official launch of Vein Wear's second Brisbane store (at the Brisbane Arcade) was held a few weeks back, and the event was celebrated in appropriately glorious style.

The beautiful wine was flowing, the food was delicious, and the invited guests were full of excited chatter. The true stars of the evening of course were garnering attention a little closer to the floor ... all those stunning shoes!

Lee had earlier picked up a pair of the 'Arked Laughing' Boots which feature a perfect combination of black and perforated leather. As for me, it was all about the divine 'Queen of Hearts' shoe (a wonderful Alice in Wonderland inspired creation). From the first moment I saw these beauties I simply HAD to make them mine.

Some people like to denigrate the humble city pigeon. Not me though, I like these tough inner-city dwellers who manage to make a decent life for themselves amongst the concrete plains, mountainous high-rises and streams of rushing feet.

Sometimes they act as a reminder of life beyond the structure and sterility of the office. Sometimes it's just nice to say hello to a feathered friend as you both go about your busy business.

I'm really hoping that these two goodies can help get me through the rest of the morning...

that I really should give up drinking coffee one of these days. I'm sure I've become far too reliant on my morning heart-starter ...
... but then I think that I shouldn't think such stupid things... ;)

So aside from all those significant and deeply meaningful hopes and dreams I wish to fulfil over the course of my life, there are also some lesser, more trivial items I want to cross off my list.

I've long had a love of watching and playing tennis. In fact it's likely the only sport I can watch for hours and hours on end. Ever since the Australian Open introduced those massively oversized 'novelty' tennis balls years and years ago, I knew that one day I would have to make one mine. As you can see, I'm very happy (and proud) to report that this joyous occasion has finally come to pass!

Have you ever seen anything more adorable?

... But that was until I received my copy of 'Twin' magazine in the mail. It's just SO BEAUTIFUL!! Once more I am in love...

I guess given that it has a hard cover and is seriously 'special', Twin can be called more of a book or at the very least a mook. Thankfully then Lula can still hold firm as my No.1 magazine love of choice.