The Inspiration - The Vintage Dining Room

So the other weekend Luke and I bought a dining table. We weren't planning on it, but we happened to be in the Salvation Army store and there was a nice-looking table just sitting there waiting for us to buy it. It was nicely built (and extendable), and came with 6 chairs for only $200! I was like, yes please. The chairs are upholstered in brown velvet; although this is not a complete eyesore, it's something I'd like to change eventually (when we've bought all the essentials and actually have money to do that). 

So this got me thinking about how I'd like to decorate our dining room. Like the lounge room, this is an area in which you are going to spend a lot of time, not just eating as a family but also entertaining friends. Of course, it's important to be practical and homey, and the dining room also provides a wonderful opportunity to express yourself. After all, dining isn't just about what you're eating but also the place where you're sitting.

So I had a little look for some inspiration, which I hope will inspire you as much as it has me.

Love the blue accent.

Very chic. How fabulous are those chairs?

No wait, I love these chairs. Purple and white trim. Love it. And that's a nice homage to blue and white china on the wall. 

Comfortable yet classy. And once again, having a chandelier and flowers seems to be an important part of getting the vintage look. There also seems to be a marine theme going on.

Find a nice white table and some classy chairs and paint them all white = instant chic. 

Who says your chairs have to match? As long as they have the same aesthetic, they will automatically go together. Love that clock in the corner - is it a clock? Is it a cello? Is it both?

There is a danger in having too much white. Yes, you can have too much of a good thing. Never fear, this can be balanced out by darker furniture, like these chairs. Painted wooden furniture seems to be an essential part of the vintage country feel.

The great thing about painting furniture is that it covers a multitude of sins. And when it starts to look a bit rough and the paint begins to chip, the more fashionable it becomes - you get shabby chic style!

Something very endearing here. There's a lot of playfulness and character going on.

And who said your table and chairs need to match? Funky table + funky chairs = very chic. There's also nothing quite like a solid natural wood dining table.

A little bit more on the elegant scale here, rather than the chic, but still very beautiful. I like the idea of tall windows with shutters opening onto a garden.

Simple, sweet and a great use of colours. Very attainable for any budget.

Nice colour on the walls and an interesting display of homeware.

Simple yet effective.

Classic, elegant and comfortable - the perfect combination.

Mirrors always help to expand space. 

Very blue and very classy.

Loving how the chair cushions and curtains match. I think this is the kind of look I'm leaning towards... well, kind of. Simple yet pretty.

A beautiful space - I'm loving those armchairs, that would really make you feel like the head of the table. The stainless steel creates interesting highlights. 

Okay, scrap that, I don't want a chandelier anymore - I want a ship. How cool is that?

This is a fun use of shelving, making it a real feature.

Cute. 

My husband really appreciates the map feature.

Elegance. I want that china cabinet.

And this is just to prove you don't have to have a separate dining room to make it elegant. Loving those chairs - they've got a garden party look about them.

This one gets ten out of ten for harmony. Wow! Look at it. The chairs, the rug, the flowers, the bowls, the curtains, the matching shapes! Oh, be still my heart!

Wow. Very grand. 

No wait, these are my favourite chairs. Look at them: the fabric, the clear legs. Wow, what a knock out. Who would have thought so much coolness could come from a chair?

Look at that feature wall of plates in the back. It's an interesting choice of wall colour too.

Check out this happy family of mismatched chairs. :) They all have similar colours that complement the natural wood of the table.

Blue! And purple! And so much fun!

Clean, simple and effective.

So much colour. I wonder if the owner thinks every morning: Hmmm... what colour chair shall I sit on today?

Isn't this fabric beautiful?

Our dining table and chairs are dark brown at the moment. I will probably leave them that way, as I'm not sure how extendable tables would cope with being painted. However, I am looking forward to reupholstering the chairs. I'm thinking a mix of florals and polka dots in pastels. But then again, by the time I get around to it I may have already changed my mind.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed that.

Until next time :)

The Book - Restoration

Time for another book review, because you know I don't just watch movies; now and again I pick up a book. The last work we read for Book Club was chosen by Bex, and it was Restoration by Rose Tremain.

Restoration was published in 1989, and also made into a movie, but the film version was difficult to locate. Anyway, I'm not sure if this is a book for everyone, as evidently I was the only person in our book club who enjoyed it. Perhaps I liked it so much because the last book we read was so poorly written. This book kind of reignited my faith in modern or semi-modern literature (I guess anything younger than Dickens and Austen can be considered modern.)

The story follows the life of Robert Merivel, a medical student who by chance falls into favour with the King (Charles II) and becomes a kind of personal physician for the King's pooches. The King then arranges for Merivel to marry his favourite mistress, Celia Clemence, as the other mistresses are getting a little jealous. The plan is perfect: Mervivel, apart from being a jolly good keeper of dogs and fool to the king, is also a notorious womaniser and pretty darn good at it. Merivel is given Celia in marriage on one condition: he is not to fall in love with her.

However, despite Merivel's arrogant, selfish and vain character, somehow you end up loving him as he is confronted by his many weaknesses and the true nature of his own heart. Essentially, I found this book was in fact about idolatry: it reveals how different idols at different times can completely consume us, and what dangers this brings.

There was something that really gripped me in this story. The writing was like nothing I had ever read before. Often stories written in first person are unpleasant experiences, since the characters seem as two-dimensional as the black and white words with which they are written. However, Robert Merivel feels like a real historical person. Like Jane Eyre, you feel this character coming off the page. Another similarity between Restoration and Jane Eyre is they are both written in a kind of diary-autobiographical style. 
I also loved how Merivel muses about the course his life has taken in hindsight, contemplating what moments were pivotal in the road he has taken. Halfway through the book, he was pretty much like: "Okay, well you've caught up with me, we're in the present now, and I have as much idea as you do about where this story will end." Maybe that's what I really appreciated about the book: the way the fourth wall was continually broken down. Merivel is frank about the goings-on in his life - almost too frank; one big complaint about the book is that it can get a bit too descriptive about his sexual relations.

I'm also a sucker for anything set in a historical time period, as I feel like I can read a story and get some insight into the place and time where it is set.

So in conclusion, I highly recommend this book if historical novels are your thing. And even if they're not, this might be a good book to start with.

Here's a little snippet for you to get an idea of the writing style:

"She would, on the birthday of Christ, allow herself what she called "an extra helping of prayer." At the time of the Civil War, she would pray for peace. Always, she asked God to spare me and my father. But at Christmas, she talked to God as if He were Clerk of the Acts in the Office of Public Works. She prayed for cleaner air in London. She prayed that our chimneys would not fall over in the January winds; she prayed that our neighbour, Mister Simkins, would attend to his cesspit, so that it would cease its overflow into ours. She prayed that Amos Treefeller would not slip and drown "going down the public steps to the river at Blackfriars, which are much neglected and covered in slime, Lord." And she prayed, of course, that plague would not come.
As a child, she allowed me to ask God to grant me things for which my heart longed. I would reply that my heart longed for a pair of skates made of bone or for a kitten from Siam. And we would sit by the fire, the two of us, praying. And then we would eat a lardy cake, which my mother had baked herself, and ever since that time the taste of lardy cake has had about it the taste of prayer.” 

Until next time :)

The Holiday - Second Anniversary Part 3

Time for the third installment of our anniversary trip to Auckland. I think I might have to do Sunday in two parts as there are so many neat photos I want to share with you. Let's start with some pictures of Devonport.

 Love the old buildings.

 One of the best lolly shops I've ever been to. They had some really neat imported novelty stuff, although you could almost feel your teeth rotting when you walked in. Luke and I walked out with just an aniseed wheel each. Yum... aniseed.

 Bunting makes me happy. Love the art deco facade. 

 

 To be honest, in Wellington there aren't too many people who have tried to "sell" Auckland to me, but when anyone did tell me about how great that city is, they forgot to mention all the beautiful old buildings!

I mean, I could almost be in Melbourne. 

 No trip to Auckland would be complete without a photo of the Sky Tower (although I personally think it's a bit of an eyesore).

 While on the bus going to the Auckland Museum, we overheard an elderly couple talking about going to a French Market. So we decided to postpone our visit to the Museum and check out the French Market instead. 

 When we got there we found a guy playing some swing music on a violin, so we put our bags and jackets down and danced a few songs. This made the weekend perfect for me. I love the fact that we can do that - hear a good beat and just dance. It's the essence of spontaneity.

 So many yummy things to eat. It was a pity we'd had such a big breakfast, as most of the things at the Market were edible. No, scratch that - everything at this market was edible. 

 Cheeses

 So the story with this is quite amusing. For some reason, earlier that weekend Luke and I had got onto the topic of macaroons. The problem was that I brought up the subject but couldn't remember what they were called. It probably also didn't help that I started my description with: "They kind of look like burgers." So we were very glad to find them and then consume them.

 Prawn kebab = nom noms.

Until next time :)

The Verse - Psalm 144:3-4

 Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
    who trains my hands for war,
    and my fingers for battle;
² he is my steadfast love and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield and he in whom I take refuge,
    who subdues peoples under me.

³ O Lord, what is man that you regard him,
    or the son of man that you think of him?
⁴ Man is like a breath;
    his days are like a passing shadow.

Hi, this is Luke again, doing a guest entry for Hannah. This time I thought I would write about Psalm 144. Like most of David's psalms, this is a wonderful hymn of praise, but it's also important to remember that it contains theology, which motivates the praise.

Naturally, the above passage is not the whole psalm - just the first 4 verses. They will definitely provide enough material for today, however.

The proper beginning of theology is the study of God's attributes. The first two verses of Psalm 144 do this very well. First, David talks about the Lord training him for battle. John Macarthur notes that David lived in a time when Israel was God's chosen nation on earth, and thus God empowered him as the king to fight against the country's enemies.

David then lists at least seven things that the Lord is to those who trust in Him (probably no coincidence that there are seven). God is David's steadfast love - the One who loves him and gives him love (1 John 4:19). He is David's fortress and his stronghold - the One who protects him from enemies. When reading David's many psalms praying for deliverance from enemies, I have often wondered how they apply to someone like myself, since I am fortunate enough to have nobody actively trying to hurt me. However, the deadliest enemies God delivers us from are sin, Satan and self - all of which are faced by everyone. No matter how "good" we think our lives are, we are all sinners, and the only way we can be saved from God's wrath and judgement is through the great deliverance that He accomplished through Christ's death on the cross. If we trust in Jesus Christ to save us from our sin, we are delivered.

God was also David's shield and refuge. This is a common theme in the Psalms. It's interesting that there are so many military metaphors not only in the Psalms, but in the rest of Scripture as well - take Paul's description of the armour of God in Ephesians 6, for example. Here again, there is a shield - the shield of faith, provided by God's grace, which quenches all the flaming darts of the evil one (Eph. 6:16). The message here is that we cannot defeat sin or Satan on our own. In our human weakness, they will always be too strong for us. But greater s He who is in us than he who is in the world! (1 John 4:4.)

The Dress - Sears Junior Jumper

This outfit is actually the first ever clothing I've bought from Etsy. Strange, huh - I've bought jewellery, hairpieces, gadgets and so forth, but never clothing. For some reason, a while back I really wanted to get a skirt jumper, which is essentially a high-waisted skirt with braces. I found this cute little number on Etsy and just couldn't help myself, given that it was only NZ$30.

 Jumper: Etsy - CleoTheRio

Isn't it the cutest?

 Straps - love the straps!

 Even cuter from the back. 

 However, it is the shortest skirt that I own by far. No bending over. Luckily, the high waist makes it look a little longer. 

 I knew when I bought it that it was a Sears original from the 1960s, which made me very excited. What I didn't realise was that it belonged to the Junior High section. Shhh... don't tell anyone I'm wearing a 12-year-old's outfit!

It also goes very nicely with my navy beret and navy tights from Glassons.

Until next time :)

The Song - Mille querelles

Time for some music. You might have noticed that I have a slight thing for French music and movies. I am by no means a Francophile, but you must admit that the French make some pretty good movies and music, and I do think the sound of the language itself is really beautiful. Therefore, I will happily listen to a whole CD of French and have no idea what the songs are about, but still be completely content with that because it sounds so nice. I admit that I do try to guess the meanings of the lyrics and kind of make up my own little story in my head. Is that normal?

Anyway, today I thought I'd introduce you to the Canadian duo Marc Ferland Papillon-Larouche and Elise from Eli Et Papillon (which translates to Eli and the Butterfly). Their music is fresh, lyrical and contains some great melodies. It's very easy listening and it totally doesn't matter if you have no idea what they're singing about (like me), because it sounds so good.

Hope you enjoy it. By the way, how awesome is her hair?

Until next time :)

The Outing - 1920s Ball

So last Saturday night, Luke, Carolyn, Bex, Anna and I went to a 1920s Ball which was hosted by a guy named Scotty who we used to go to church with. It was a great night and most people came in costume.

I did try to do 1920s-style makeup; unfortunately I didn't take any close-up photos, so it kind of looks quite normal. Oh, well - next time. I wore my cream dress, although technically it's not 1920s-style, but come on - who actually suits a drop-waisted dress? No one. Well, at least no women with the slightest figure. However, I hoped that with some gloves, a hairpiece, my bobbed hair and seamed stockings I could pull it off.

I was so excited to find skin-coloured black seamed tights. And from Farmers, of all places! I can't remember the brand, although they were quite expensive: NZ$45. I'll look up the brand and get back to you. But they are also 40 denier, which means they should last a while. Stupidly, though, the lady on the front is wearing the seams on the front of her legs, which is quite off-putting.

Bex looked like she had just stepped out of 1922. I helped with her makeup and I couldn't believe how amazingly she fitted this look. I kept telling her all night: "Oh my goodness Bex, you look so beautiful tonight."

The fox furs were courtesy of Anna's grandmother, who had a whole pack of them. Hmmm, what's the term for a group of foxes? *Looks it up on Google* Oh, according to Wikipedia it's a "skulk", "leash", "troop" or "earth". OK, so we had a whole troop of fox furs. :)

Carolyn and I. 

 Anna and Bex. 

 Luke, Carolyn and I were very happy that there was a jazz band playing some music suitable for swing dancing moves. Here are some fun photos that Luke took of Carolyn and I dancing. I've been learning to lead for a little while now, and goodness gracious, is it hard work. Fun once you know what you're doing. However, I think I need to add some more moves to my repertoire.

Luke and I. He looks very dapper doesn't he?

This photo is to prove two things. Firstly, that we weren't the only ones there, and secondly, that we weren't the only people dressed up. Look at all those fringe dresses. I really want one now, they look like such fun to dance in!

Until next time :)