Orient homewares

My story on the lovely Tania and her store, Orient Modern Asian Homestore, is featured in this month's issue of Your Home & Garden Magazine (click here to read).

Light relief

The world, it seems, has gone mad. Currencies are tumbling off the cliff and aftershocks from political earthquakes on the other side of the globe are being felt everywhere (including here, as far as you can go before you fall off the planet).

I'm supposed to be writing about art trails and luxury accommodation, about a landscaping firm and an amazingly successful skincare company whose tendrils reach into global markets. Instead, my gaze keeps returning to the car crash that's currently happening in Europe. Is there anyway to stop the world and get off?

Because today, of all days, we need something beautiful to rest our eyes upon, here's a story I did on a gorgeous Kelburn house in this month's Your Home & Garden Magazine (click here to read).

#shakesherheadandwondersabouttheworld

          
   

Resene colour winner

My story on the Lower Hutt woman who won the Resene Colour Award is published in the current Your Home & Garden Magazine (click here to read).

Another day, another house to profile

This one was in the deep South but, because there's no longer any budget to fly journos around, I had to rely on Skype.

Guess what I'll be writing this weekend?

Before and After

This is the second of two stories I have in the current Your Home & Garden Magazine, a fabulous transformation of a Kelburn villa  (click here to read).

Carterton house

My story on this lovely new build in the Wairarapa is published in this month's Your Home & Garden Magazine, one of two stories I have in the September issue (click here to read).

Amazing store

If you find yourself in Matakana, north of Auckland, anytime soon you MUST check out Old School Inc, Haidee Dowling's cool vintage store.

My piece on her is in this month's Your Home & Garden Magazine (click here to read).

Grand Dame

My story on the fabulous Danish architect, Mona Quinn, and the Whitemans Valley villa she lovingly restored is published in this month's Your Home & Garden Magazine (click here to read).

      

Smiling - and a magazine store profile

It was a Very Good Day (caps warranted) in Shazzyland today - three new commissions from glossy magazines for stories, including two that are notoriously tough 'gets'. And I got them, so yay for me.

Now I just have to knuckle down and write them all - arghhhh.

For today's viewing pleasure here's a store profile I did for this month's Your Home & Garden Magazine. Behome is owned by the lovely Emily Davidow, who traded in NYC for a homewares store in Wellington. Click here to read.

      

Eco House

The October issue of Your Home & Garden Magazine, out today, features my story on a new build up the line in Waikanae, one of two stories I have in this month's issue (the other one is a store profile which I'll share later in the month).

Click here to read.

Check out the photographic by-line

You may remember back in May I was handed the keys to a brand new Mitsubishi Outlander and told to drive it around Welli homeware stores.

The story is published in a range of Bauer magazines this month, including Your Home & Garden. Click here to read.

Thanks to the clever Animator who took the pix (he got paid, don't worry! There's no exploitation to see here).

Wairoa house

Wairoa isn't really ground-zero for chi-chi houses, but this one - owned by my mate Paula which I wrote about in this month's Your Home & Garden Mag - turns that misconception on its head. Click here to read.

   

Cover story

My story of this cute couple and their even cuter beach-side cottage is the cover story of the April issue of Your Home & Garden Magazine. Click here to read. 

Catch up

Apols for the radio silence. It's not that there's been a lack of blog worthy events, it's just that I've been sucked into the time/work vortex, and cannot seem to find my way out.

In lieu of words you shall have one of my stories from two interior magazines that plopped into my letterbox today. The first is of this cute-as-a-button Waikanae house I did last month.  Click here to read.

Because of this week's public holiday (belated happy birthday, New Zealand), I had to work at the first contract yesterday, and at the second contract on Thursday. I also have two freelance deadlines breathing down my neck. I now have no idea which day of the week it is or what I'm supposed to be doing.

Wine o'clock cannot come quickly enough today...

 

First interiors interview of the year - and bargain city!

Today we drove an hour up the coast to Waikanae where I interviewed a home-owner who has done amazing things to her house with a tight budget. She's the owner of this adorable shop so her home was all manner of cute.

Sadly, I only remembered to whip out my phone at the last minute so these are the only pics I have to share. But, between you and me, I was crushing out hard on the driftwood Xmas tree - might have to get my Martha Stewart groove on this year and make my own.

As has become our practice, the boys went to the beach while I did the interview; but when the Animator came to collect me, Bristol got to play with the home-owner's dog Poppy. They only stopped long enough for me to take this.

Best of all was the home-owner's heads-up of a couple of second-hand stores on our way home; this is the haul from both - six items for the princely sum of $31! Almost, dare I say it, as good as the UK car boots.

  

(Apols for rubbish photo; I am on deadline to deliver this story by tomorrow AM so no time for faffing about with photoshop).

OUR HOUSE IS FINALLY IN PRINT!!!

Apols for the shouty caps and excessive exclamation points but a year after filing this story on our place, Your Home & Garden Mag  published the piece (click here to read). And although I wrote it, it's my mother's maiden name that graces the byline (it would be too weird for one of their long-time writers to be seen crafting a piece about her own home!).

Anyway, I reckon my two boys look fantastic, and it's a great credit to the Animator's hard work in renovating the house.

  

Another Welly Home

No time for words today - been frantic doing some work for a previous contract. Instead you shall have my second story from the November issue of Your Home & Garden Magazine (click here to read).

The answer to a question a friend asked me the other day is Yes, I do plan to write about almost every house in Wellington (well the nice ones, anyway...)

Busy Sunday

The day started with another Your Home & Garden interview - this time with an architect and stylist and their cute beach-side cottage in Lyall Bay.

Later we crossed the city for a doggie meet up in Brooklyn and, as Sunday wore itself out, we walked down to the waterfront for Diwali, the Festival of Lights, with our good friend Faramund where we gobbled the best onion bhajis in the world. The Animator is still banging on about them.

Best of all, it's Labour Day tomorrow which means the usual Sunday night melancholy about having to haul arse into the gulag for another week (or three days, in my case) is wonderfully absent.  

Here's visual evidence of today:

  
(Pic Credits: Mereana Beconcini (house pics), Tania S from Doggie Meet Ups and Newstalk ZB)

Thunderbirds are Go - again!

Am not sure where the weekend went; it seemed to have slipped down the back of the sofa.

There was oodles of sunshine and a visit to a gorgeous old villa in Whitemans Valley for Your Home & Garden Mag (I was so busy chatting, I clean forgot to take pics to show you). While I did the interview the boys wandered around the farm, checking out working dogs (am uncertain as to what they made of the poncy 'town' dog) and Bristol also had the pleasure of meeting other members of the animal kingdom. The Animator says Briz's eyes were as wide as saucers when he came across the cows.

Back home, our very dear mates Deb and Joe visited - we haven't seen them for the longest time - and we sat in the garden in the almost too-hot sun and as the surprisingly delicious vegan chocolate cake shrank and wine bottles were drained, afternoon turned into evening. More wine was drunk, pizzas were ordered and, in the end, they left about 1.00am. A fabulous night, which made for a slightly fuzzy Sunday.

In other news, the Animator started work today on Weta Workshop's remake of the classic telly series, Thunderbirds are Go! I loved this show when I was a kid, especially the classy Lady Penelope, and am ever so pleased they are breathing life into it 50 years after it originally aired.

Cover story

The November issue of Your Home & Garden Magazine is out and features two of my stories. This one is the cover story (click here to read).

This makes the next few weeks worth living (doesn't take much to please me, eh?!)