Dream Mansions in Brighton

There is a seaside suburb in Melbourne by the name of Brighton and it’s the place dreams are made of. Those lucky enough to call Brighton home have the beach on their doorstep and have pulled out all stops to make their homes feel welcoming and reflect their personalities. From the wide open tennis courts, to the exquisite gardens, unique architectural additions and just the right balance of colour and materiality, the residents of Brighton are truly living the life of luxury.

Here are my favourite homes snapped up on my walk in this ultra chic and exclusive suburb that has stolen my heart. A girl can only dream, right?

Mornington in Victoria

Over Christmas my family and I rented a small but stylish unit in Mornington to spend some quality time together. The interior spaces were ultra comfortable and every detail was perfect, from the bottle of bubbles we used to fill a pristine white bath tub to the cucumber cleansing wipes to refresh with after a one-hour drive getting there. All the rooms were decorated in a modern decor, with top-notch appliances and gadgets to fully entertain us. The artwork on the walls added a lovely playful touch and like everything else in the apartment showed off the owner’s great taste in interior design and decoration.

Mornington is the sort of quiet town by the sea that you could really fall in love with. It has exquisite little gift shops, artisan gelato stores, salons for high-tea and shopping to your heart’s content all the way along Main Street, leading down to the water. The sunsets, beach huts and sandy beaches all give the impression of a typical Australian beach vibe. Overall, we had a great time dancing on the terrace, singing Christmas carols and soaking up the atmosphere of a beautiful apartment in a gorgeous town.

Journey from Holland to Belgium

Here we are at the last post in my series of European cities I visited solo during my student exchange days. I’ve enjoyed reminiscing about my time of great independence and highly adventurous spirit immensely. Today, I’m taking you back to February 2009, when I was travelling into The Hague from Amsterdam and then continuing my trip across the border into Belgium.

When I arrived by train into The Hague, this small Dutch city was just waking up. I asked for directions to find my hostel in the seaside resort of Scheveningen and decided to walk there. The streets were so empty and it was really cold, but there was something so appealing to me about walking in an unknown city I’d never been to before. I didn’t even have a map so I just observed how the tram carried on in the distance and followed its lead. The reason I decided to go the The Hague was because I had been deprived of seeing the beach for a long few months living in landlocked Germany. There were plenty of lakes and rivers around me but for any true blue Australian, nothing beats the beach.

I checked into my hostel and what do you know, an Australian expat was working there! He helped me find my room and offered lots of helpful advice, one of which was how to ride their trams so I wouldn’t have to walk back and forth between Scheveningen and The Hague! Within a few minutes I rushed to the beach down the road and it was such a great feeling to hear the waves crashing in and smell the salty air. I didn’t take my shoes off because it was freezing cold, but the sand was fine and soft as it passed through my fingers. I spent only one night in that cosy hostel by the sea and only half a day exploring the sights of The Hague, but that was more than enough time to get a feel for beautiful, serene Holland.

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The next morning I journeyed into Brussels by train. This capital of Belgium immediately captivated me with its charming streets, picturesque squares and quirky shops. Brussels is a bilingual city where both Dutch and French are spoken and street names appear in both languages. Without any trouble I located my hotel and stepped out to explore. My first stop was the main square, known as Grand Place, where I started to feel like I stepped into a fairytale. Each building facade was so beautifully decorated with gold trimmings and embellishments that it made me so happy just to stand in the centre of the square and admire all four sides of the buildings surrounding me. The shopping arcades nearby all had a distinct European flavour, and the chocolate shops dotted all around the city were just heavenly. I took the 2-day Hop-On-Hop-Off bus tour around all the major attractions in the city, making it super simple to explore and very convenient for a young tourist who didn’t do her research on public transport options in the city!

One of the other main tourist attractions in Brussels is the “Manneken Pis” otherwise known as the pissing boy! All the tourists and I were armed with our cameras, which were directed at this tiny sculpture in the corner of a road intersection. It’s just so funny to think about it. He was actually being undressed from a Valentine’s Day costume when I was there!

All in all, I spent five days exploring three different European gems (Amsterdam blog post here), each with their own languages, architecture and traditions. Even though it was a short trip in duration, it was a rich and eventful journey I will never forget because it convinced me that a young and inexperienced solo traveller can do anything she sets her mind to, especially when she’s miles from home.

Life & Photography

Life’s been crazy busy this past month, I can’t believe we’re already in June! Thankfully the Melbourne winter hasn’t been too cold and even though there have been lots of rainy days we’ve also had a lot of really warm sunshine come through.

I recently attended a spectacular theatre show of Don Quixote performed by The Imperial Russian Ballet Company. It was absolutely wonderful with the highest quality of ballet we’ve all come to expect of Russian dancers. Their precision and energy was so beautiful to watch, as was their ability to light up the stage with their expressive faces and graceful movement. 10/10!

Then there were the beautiful sunsets! It was actually on the night of the performance that I walked to St. Kilda beach and saw the calmest water, smooth as silk and completely still in the distance. All the people there were silent, not a single voice came to mind and there we all were admiring that beautiful and serene moment when the sun crossed over the horizon. I loved the spiritual feeling within my soul that evening.

On other days there were picnics in the backyard alongside my gorgeous black cat, who was uncharacteristically thirsty and drank straight from the tap! Then the arrival of some wonderful snail mail from new international pen-pals, days spent wrapping our Mishka Collection greeting cards/sending promo postcards, more visits to the beach, dinners with friends at funky restaurants, rediscovering local parks and the beauty in nature, and not to mention dreaming of my dream home!

Life is going at full speed and I feel like I’m barely keeping up! I’m still reminiscing about my European travel adventures, my beautiful shop and the simple days of life in Watford, but I’m grateful for all the memories created in Australia so far as well. Enjoy your week!

 

Sorrento!

When most people hear the name Sorrento they often think of sunny Italy but in reality there’s a town with the same name right here in Australia. Last week my Mum and I spent a few nights at the Hotel Sorrento where we relaxed by the beach and spent some quality time together swimming, laughing and catching up on old times. It was just the break we both needed before the rush of Christmas and New Year festivities took over our schedules.

With its friendly locals, excellent gift shops, top quality accommodation and beautiful beach views, Sorrento is a wonderful place to escape to, for residents of Australia and tourists alike. We loved it!

Here’s a summary of our stay in photographs:

 

Hello there…

Welcome to the newly renovated Graceful Avenue website! We trust that you’ll find it easy to navigate through as we wanted to create a simplistic user interface with a clear vision for our brand. Here’s the latest news from us:

1. You can now sign up to our exciting Newsletter, giving you the chance to see our new products before anybody else. You’ll also receive exclusive offers and discounts to use in our Online Shop! We are very excited about this new venture.

2. We can’t wait to grow our brand, so very soon you’ll get to see our Wholesale Catalogue with the opportunity to flick through the virtual pages of our exclusive Mishka Collection card range.

3. On the menu up the top we now have a “Stockists” section where we’ll be thrilled to update you on which lovely retailers have chosen to stock our products. If you’re a retailer please get in touch!

4. As the year approaches Christmas (can’t believe it’s nearly November already!!) we are hoping to do a few local markets and events so keep your eyes open for that too!

5. We also have a new email address to go with our new domain name: info@gracefulavenue.com.au so please take note of that.

Overall we’ve been super busy with business/admin stuff lately and that’s why it’s been a bit quiet on the blogging side of things. Here is a photographic summary of life in Melbourne during the last fortnight for your entertainment. Please check in again soon.

Last weekend in Melbourne

So originally I was supposed to be landing back in Melbourne today but moved my flight forward by about 3 weeks. Doing so not only allowed me to be present for my mum’s, sister’s, aunt’s and friend’s birthdays, it also gave me the chance to hug my adorable cat, whom I missed for a whopping 700 days, much sooner.

Here are some photos from last weekend. We went as a family to a wonderful cafe in Port Melbourne called Pane e Tulipani (http://www.panetulipani.com.au/) to have breakfast on Saturday morning. While the title of the establishment comes from the Italian film of the same name, the food, staff and environment were highly original. I loved the atmosphere, the friendly waitresses, enjoyable Italian music, delicious food and really good coffee. Bellissimo!

Afterwards we went for a walk to the beach. The water was a green/grey shade and the sun was no where to be seen but I truly missed the beach while living in London, so I had fun walking on the sand and seeing the boats in the distance. It’s great knowing that whenever I feel like it a trip to the beach is only a 25-minute car ride from home.

On Sunday my sisters and I went to the cinema to watch a wacky French drama/comedy entitled “Mood Indigo” or L’Écume des jours as it’s known in French. What can I say? The film was made in a really clever way using a combination of stop-animation and in-camera techniques. Right from the start we were invited into a completely unusual world where everything wasn’t what it seemed. It’s a film that Gaudi or Dali would be proud of because of the highly imaginative nature of the scenes with very creative props, inventions and objects that challenge us and our preconceived notion of the world we live in. At first we couldn’t believe what we got ourselves into but as the film went on we laughed until we were in tears (still partially because we couldn’t believe what we were seeing!). I recommend this film to open-minded people who have a sense of humour, a good imagination and a creative side. Don’t take it too seriously and you’ll soon see that it’s actually a masterpiece and an ingenious French film with really good acting by Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou and the rest of the cast. My rating: 7/10

Barcelona!

Anyone who has ever been to Barcelona would’ve without a doubt left it feeling pretty impressed with the sights, architectural marvels and seaside views. Last week I visited Barcelona for the first time in my life and was so captivated by this city that I was almost in tears when it came time to leave it! Barcelona was a place that stole my heart right from the first second.

Entering Gaudi’s still incomplete Sagrada Familia Church was an experience that I will always remember. Such beautiful forms, colours and craftsmanship in the detailing just have to be seen to be believed. Walking in that space was like entering a giant forest, whimsical and playful at the same time. I loved living very close to the clean, sandy beaches that make up the city. Watching the waves roll in one after the other is a truly relaxing activity, and one that I’ve certainly missed. A definite highlight was watching a typically Spanish Flamenco dance and exploring Gaudi’s other gem, Park Guell. The city was extremely easy to navigate on foot and the public transport systems were extremely safe, cheap, clean and convenient.

Barcelona was incredible and I can’t wait to return! Enjoy!