my creative space: making

Me oh my have I missed my sewing machine! I don't think I had made anything in, oh, 3 or 4 months... I hate when that happens.

Feeling inspired last week, I set up my little sewing corner at home and started on some simple projects. Over the next couple of days I made up this little beanie, embellished 3 baby singlets AND made a top for myself (coming to the blog soon). It felt so good to sew again, to create something from nothing. 

Last week the beanie & the ampersand singlet made their way over to the precious little one who belongs to him and her. The remaining singlets will head off to other newborns, and the top has been in rotation ever since. Yay for making!

p.s. I'm linking up with 'our creative spaces' here, for the first time in ages. So nice to be back!

p.p.s. Oh my goodness have I loved reading through your comments on my last post! You all have some hysterical terms of endearment for your loved ones. Definitely worth a read through.

x

do you call your partner 'baby'?

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My husband calls me Chica, and I call him Chico. I can't remember when it started, but one day he just began calling me Chica (because I'm half Colombian) and it stuck. Those of you who speak Spanish will know that it means 'girl' - thereby making it a completely nonsensical nickname, but there you have it.

Other than that, we call each other by our names. Never babe, baby, honey, sweetheart, darling, pumpkin etc... It's just not how we roll. But lately I'm starting to think that we are, perhaps, the only couple on the planet who don't call each other 'baby.' Am I right? What do you call your significant other?

my life in iphone photos: round 20

waiting at the bus stop / at the nursery

hipster coffee / yogeeks

blurry friends / tea time

a good reminder / booties for a friend's new babe

at home / out to dinner, it was cold!

view of coogee beach / the day i went crazy and baked bread and muffins AND sewed a top

me, yesterday. so, so sick. breathing in eucalyptus oil on hot water. / morning city

dipping my toes

 I've been feeling quiet this week, hence the slow posting. It feels like we're moving towards spring and I'm relishing short trips to the beach. Dipping my toes in the water and knowing that soon, very soon, I'll be jumping right in. Yesterday it was 27 degrees (!!!) and today is warm and sunny again. 

My sewing machine and I have also reconnected this week after far too long apart, and I'll be sharing a few of the projects I've made in the coming days. In the meantime, I hope you and yours have a wonderful weekend!

the end of missing someone

"I like to see people reunited, maybe that's a silly thing, but what can I say, I like to see people run to each other, I like the kissing and the crying, I like the impatience, the stories that the mouth can't tell fast enough, the ears that aren't big enough, the eyes that can't take in all of the change, I like the hugging, the bringing together, the end of missing someone [...]"
                                     Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

I'll be back on Monday to explain more, but for now, I hope your weekend is wonderful!

xoxo

from a windy cliff top, more on 'the nursery'

All photos by Tim Coulson

The drive south to Tim and Kesh's house is seriously beautiful, and where they live, well it's just spectacular. The whole south coast feels like a different country; it's wild, windswept and rugged. And there are cows grazing at the end of the street.

This spot that Tim chose for our live shoot was especially magical. It was cold, grey and windy beyond belief, but perfect. I love how dynamic these shots are, and I'm so grateful to Tim for capturing them. They just feel like me.

tim coulson's 'the nursery'

Top photo (the composite) by Tim. Rest of the photos by me.

On Saturday I gathered in Tim and Kesh's gorgeous house on a hill, along with 10 other amateur photographers, to learn how to take photos. Photos of people. Throughout the day Tim taught us about emotional shooting, editing photos, culling, and how to shoot on manual. Essentially, he was teaching us all to be brave and get our cameras off of that pesky 'auto' button once and for all!

Armed with this new knowledge, we drove to a nearby cliff overlooking the sea for a live shoot. The name of the town where Tim and Kesh live is an Aboriginal word for windy, and windy it was. I was the model, so one by one, everyone took my portrait. Me, I just tried my best not to blow away.

My biggest revelation of the day, however, had nothing to do with photography. Being in Tim and Kesh's home, listening to the two of them describe the path towards Tim becoming a professional photographer, I was inspired more than I can say. Tim mentioned more than once that he didn't use to take great photos. But he took thousands of pictures over hundreds of days, and now he's here. A pro, literally. It reminded me of the 10 000 hour rule that Malcolm Gladwell talks about in his book, Outliers. It also made me grateful for the fact that, like Tim, my job is my passion.

Tomorrow I'll be posting some of the photos that Tim snapped of me; they are truly special.

tim's version

emily's version

ellen's version

hibernating

If you need me, I'll be here - on my couch with a stack of books, a bowl of leftover chilli, a cup of tea, and a new notebook. There's something so great about a blank notebook, isn't there? It's just begging to be filled with yoga class plans, random notes, grocery lists, to do lists, blog ideas and on and on...

The other reason I'm hibernating here is that it's storming outside with winds like you wouldn't believe. I'm also conserving energy because I know this weekend is going to be full. So full. But in the best of ways. Tomorrow I head off to Tim Coulson's photography workshop, a last minute decision I couldn't be more thrilled about. Though it does mean a fairly epic solo road trip, hence the making of a CD called "drive." That should do the trick.

Happy weekend friends!

it's my mom's birthday

Today is my mom's birthday. I don't think I've been home for her birthday in 4 or 5 years, which makes me a bit sad. But it's summer where she is, and I'm sure she'll have a lovely day with a quick skype session thrown in there somewhere.

Happy birthday mom! I love you.

especially grateful for, 4th edition

It's been a while since I've shared one of these little lists, so here are, in no particular order, 10 things I'm especially grateful for right now...

1. The gorgeous tree in the photo above, blooming right around the corner from my home. I wonder if they'd mind if I took a few for myself...

2. The glorious weather we've been having lately. During the day, it's warm enough for sandals and t-shirts. And they call this winter??

3. Frank Ocean's new album, love it.

4. Green smoothies. I swear they are single handedly responsible for my getting in enough greens every day.

5. Cozy flannel blankets at night.

6. Emails from friends who live so very far away.

7. The beautiful and inspiring women who come to my prenatal yoga classes, week in, week out.

8. This book. I don't know why it took me so long to get to, but once I started I couldn't put it down. Sadly, I didn't like the movie at all.

9. The homemade veggie chilli I had for dinner last night. Recipe here.

10. All of you who take the time each day to read my blog, and leave me comments that make me smile!

my life in iphone photos round 19

me, out and about

green smoothie and raw vegan cake / sunrise at the beach

macaron break / hopping on the kinfolk bandwagon

sydney / a dog

best card ever / paddington

i need a pet, asap

one day, gumboots / the next day, sandals. sydney is weird

lemons in the morning / out to dinner

starting the day with a big green smoothie / ending the day with sangria

My instagram name is thislittleport, if you'd like to follow along!

being an adult (sucks)

Sometimes, being an adult just sucks. Like when your car breaks down in the middle of a busy highway in Sydney and you have to push it across multiple lanes of traffic and then spend the rest of your day sorting out towing and repair costs. Or when you miss your mom because you moved to the other side of the world. Or when the only mail you get are bills. Or when you feel like you're always cleaning, tidying, organizing and yet there's always a mess. Or when you realize you really, really, (I mean really) have to do your taxes.

Makes me wish I could be that smiley five year old again, frolicking in a field somewhere. What do you think sucks about being an adult? Please share...

around my town (a sydney tour)

Today you can find me over on Katrina's beautiful blog, Simply Us, giving you a little tour of my adopted town of Sydney. I had so much fun putting this post together and I hope you enjoy it too! Head here to check it out.

bicycle love

One of my favourite Pinterest boards is called, simply, bicycles. In it, I'm collecting bits and pieces of inspiration for my own inner city cycling. Here are a few of my favourites...

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Happy hump day friends!