:: Floral Friday - Something Romantic ::

 Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred or greed, but I don't see that It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around. - Love, Actually

To me, romance is loving with your whole heart. It's knowing you're not alone.

"Floral Fridays is a monthly photography project with different themes each month. This series is about fun and taking time out to smell the flowers. To play along, please email Trishie (trishie@underlockandkeyblog.com) for next month's theme."

:: Happy Birthday To Me! ::

It's official ladies and gentlemen, I am now 30. No longer can I say I'm in my 20s and try to ignore the fact that 29 was the very tippy top of the 20s and as such, hardly counts as a '20-something'. But, in a desperate attempt to hold onto my 20s for just a little bit longer I decided to have a 20s themed party!

I decided on a simple invite, printed on white paper and glued to cream cardboard. I think the words and colour say enough, really! Below is my invitation (address omitted for obvious reasons!). My sister-in-law suggested an emerald green font as it was Pantone's colour of the year last year and emerald's always remind me of the 1920s. I used this font for the title and this font for the rest of the invitation. The little border decorations came from this site. We picked one and then rotated them to fit where we needed them. From memory, that particular border is found by using a capital 'M'.

We have quite a large backyard so Mr LG and I decided to buy a badminton set (fun!) and some quoits to play during the party - both of which were a big hit. We also had a marquee set up, lined with bunting, as well as 20s-style decorations dotted around the place. Mr LG and I love everything art deco so we already had old typewriters, old phones, old luggage and old bikes from that era to use. It was fun to see everyone dressed up with flippy dresses, suspenders, headbands, and lots of feathers and sequins.

Eloise and Ramona's Hotsy Totsy Book of Fun can be purchased from flapperdoodle on etsy. That store is amazing, I love so many items! Eloise and Ramona are just fabulous!

These colouring in pages can also be bought from flapperdoodle. I decided to have the activity book and colouring pages to entertain my smaller guests. They went down a treat, with kids and adults alike. Who doesn't love some fun colouring in?

Photo courtesy of Gracie

Photos courtesy of Gracie - I love the second photo, that pesky balloon just wanted to be in the photo!

My gorgeous niece Scarlett (with my Mum in the background). Is there anything better than a 1920s-dressed baby?

Photo courtesy of Gracie

Photos courtesy of Gracie - she is so cute!

Photo courtesy of Gracie - on a side note, does anyone know where I can buy typewriter ribbon from?

I loved my sister's wig! By the end of the day everyone was trying it on!

I had an amazing day surrounded by the people closest to me. I highly recommend a 1920s themed party to anyone who is considering one - it is fabulous fun!

:: Wedding Photography ::

At the end of last year my little brother got married to the most gorgeous girl. My brother was planning the engagement surprise around the time of this wedding (which was the wedding of my sister-in-law's older sister). I've now been a part of two of the three girl's weddings, and I've already warned sister number three that I will crash her future wedding specifically to take photos even if I'm not invited.

Now, when I say my little brother I actually mean my younger brother because there is no way at a whole foot taller than me that he is 'little'! My brother is a huge giant of a man. He's around 6'2 with shoulder just as wide, and he loves things like weight lifting and cricket ... and he's also a huge romantic. He set up an engagement surprise for my sister-in-law that started with a dinner, then a walk around Kangaroo Point (she was in huge heels, so that was a bit of a problem, ha! For those of you who don't know Brisbane - Kangaroo Point is a lovely cliff that overlooks the city ... with huge staircases going down the cliffs to get to the river walk at the bottom) and suddenly they come across rose petals and candles scattered everywhere and Josh was on one knee. So romantic! He also turned their honeymoon into a surprise and didn't tell her until the day before they left - I have photos of that to share as well! But for now, I will leave you with some photos of their gorgeous wedding. I had a pretty good vantage point from the front pew - being a family member at weddings always guarantees good seats.

:: Finders Keepers Markets ::

Late last year Gracie and I went to the Finders Keepers markets together. I love these markets - they're basically etsy in real life! I always set myself a budget (with cash in hand) so that I don't go overboard and buy one of everything. Every year I'm amazed at how creative people are. I'm pretty sure I walk around repeating the phrases, "Oh, that's clever!", "I love that!", "Look! How do people come up with this?", "I wish I could do that." And yeah, you get the idea.