The most beautiful blogs I know

I WANT TO BE A FOOL

PRACTISING SIMPLICITY

A WELL TRAVELED WOMAN

HOUSE IN HABIT

JUNKAHOLIQUE

 I don't have much time for reading blogs these days but there are a handful that I just can't get enough of.  They are so utterly beautiful that for a short moment I am transported out of my daily chaos and into a much calmer world!   Obviously I know that these are only small snippets of life and these women probably have the same chaotic lifestyles as I do, but they seem to capture both the tranquility and adventure so nicely.
xx

First date

It's crazy to think that Nic and I have not actually spent any time alone since Ayana was born 15 months ago!  Up until last Wednesday that is when Saba offered to come and babysit so that we could go on a 'lunch date'.  We left the two of them sitting at the dining room table together enjoying a late lunch themselves while I quickly swapped my food incrusted toddler jeans for some 'going out in public' clothes and jumped in the car.  We giggled nervously, gave each other shy side ward glances, tried not to check our phones every five minutes to see if Ayana was alright and we talked!  We talked like real people, sometimes even about unbaby related things.  It felt so good, so refreshing, so very adult like! I sipped a margarita (hey why not!), I didn't have sticky little fingers making a dive for my food all the time, nobody was tugging at my shirt trying to get a sneaky milk feed and my clothes were practically still clean by the end of the meal.  Of course by the time we got home (an hour later) I was already missing my little one like crazy, but it also made me realise that I've missed my husband and partner in crime over this past year! 
We are of the co-sleeping/ baby wearing/ breast feeding persuasion, and while I have no regrets about that I can see now how it's time to find some balance between baby and husband.  She's old enough now that I can leave her with my mum or my sister for a couple of hours and know she'll be in good hands.  I'm realising that it's ME with the attachment issues rather than her.  Heck she's having so much fun that she barely notices I've left.
If there's one thing I've learned about this whole parenting game though is that you have to be flexible and open to constant changes. So here goes mama, a new phase is upon us and I need to learn to let go and embrace it!  In the mean time I am counting down the days until our next date.
xx

Easter

If you live over this side of the world and you're not religious, then Easter is a bit of a bewildering holiday.  Rather than celebrating new life and colour, we're collecting fallen leaves in red, orange and brown.  We're just packing away our summer clothes and pulling our musty sweaters out of our wardrobes.  And it's still incredibly exciting, there's still that buzz in the air, and I'm still secretly counting down the days every year!
Every Easter all the 'kids' stumble into my mums house one after the other, usually nursing a hangover.  The coffee machine flies into action, the decorated eggs (for which the chickens are locked into their coop the previous week so that we don't have to hunt for their latest nest under the house first) are put on the table, and this year the smell of Saba's homemade hot cross buns fill the kitchen.  As everybody wakes up, the noise in the house goes up several notches and before long the friendly teasing, bickering, joking sets the tone for the day.  Let me tell you, this is when I am at my absolute happiest!  To be surrounded by all my siblings, their partners, and now Ayana too is my idea of a perfect day.  After breakfast we hunt for chocolate eggs (Ayana had a couple of little presents to find instead), steal eggs and swap eggs... and then crash out on whatever spare couch there is and sleep off the sugar comedowns.
Can't wait until next year.
xx

Autumn storm

When we woke up bright and early on Thursday morning it seemed as though nature had turned horizontal.   The thick line of bamboo that normally shelters our garden was on a dramatic lean, the rain whipped past the kitchen window, and the birds began chirping with irritation long before dawn broke.  We had quite literally just finished nursing our first cups of coffee for the day when the house suddenly went quiet.  The whirring, buzzing, beeping, humming... it all came to an abrupt halt.  There was an uncomfortable silence and then 'Ohhh it's the bloody power again'.  The THIRD power cut in a week!  Let me tell you, you quickly realise how much you rely on it when it's suddenly gone.  To be cooped up in our dark little house with no water (because we're on tank water so it requires the pump to be working), no light, no internet, no music and a raging storm outside just feels nothing short of archaic!  I know, I hear you muttering "First world problems", under your breath. And you're right of course.
When the storm finally cleared in the mid afternoon, I packed Ayana into the ergo and we checked out the damage on the farm.  The air was thick, humid and completely still, the light had an eery iridescent glow to it and the wildlife seemed to just sit there in a state of bewilderment.  Two hours later and we were still sitting down in the paddock beside the apple tree eating until our bellies ached.  Neither of us wanted to go back and sit in the house... ever again!
x

Lately

These past couple of weeks have felt like we're clinging onto the final days of summer.  Any moment now it's going to slip out of our grasp for another year and we're going to be spending dark afternoons huddling in front of the fire.  So we're having last bbq's, last beach days, and last sun drenched mornings exploring the markets.  I'm feeling a little nervous about winter to be honest. I'm wondering how endless days holed up in our tiny, cramped house is going to go down with a toddler.  I'm mentally trying to plan lots of excursions.  I'm stalking blogs like this for ideas (surely if a mama of two living in a tiny apartment in New York can get by then so can I!).  That aside it has been a good month though.  Several birthdays were celebrated, plenty of family has been visiting from overseas, we're all working hard at the moment, the garden is still cranking out vegetables and we're all in good health.  What more could you want in life right?!
x

Thoughts on blogging

 

source

 I sat on my bed sweating over my first blog post about five or six years ago.  It was shortly before getting my first real article published (entitled 'A Beginners Guide to Vintage) and I was mildly terrified of putting myself out there for all the world to see.  Of course I had a My Space account but it was more for stalking really, I didn't actually post things myself.  I don't particularly remember what my first post was about, something to do with travel no doubt.  I do remember the rush of pushing publish and then running back every five minutes to see if anybody had taken a peek.  With every new reader I ran around the room squealing, 'oh my god, oh my god, oh my god'.  And then when people started leaving comments I was just beside myself.  What a rush!  What a thrill!  To think that timid little old me could spill some thoughts out on my computer and people from all over the world would actually take the time to read it, think about it and respond!  After that I wrote regularly for a while, it even led to a regular column on a New Zealand fashion website for a while (which I quickly realised was rubbish for me because I took very little interest in anything that wasn't vintage, let alone New Zealand fashion).  Since then I've stopped and started blogging many times.  My subject matter has changed occasionally.  Sometimes I would get caught up trying to copy somebody else who inspired me.  And occasionally I would just run out things to say and throw in the towel altogether.  Basically, aside from dabbling in Yahoo chat rooms when the internet first began (*gasp* yes kids I'm practically prehistoric), blogging was my gateway drug into the addictive world of social media. But that's another story.

I blog for several reason, the main one being because I love to write and to photograph.  Unlike when you're working for a magazine, here there is nobody telling you what you can and can't do.  There are no deadlines other than the ones you might choose to set for yourself.  It's a beautiful creative outlet and often connects you with other like minded people.  I started Dashfield Vintage the blog around the same time as starting Dashfield Vintage the shop.  I wanted a space to advertise up coming markets, new shop items and maybe the odd vintage inspired article.  It served its purpose well.  Eventually my interest in spending every weekend at market stalls, and weekdays competing with other vintage sellers to try and hunt down an ever diminishing source of stock wore me down.  When I then became pregnant I realised that it was time to take a break. What about the blog?  I still enjoyed writing it, but my interests and subject matter were changing.  I felt I had to start a new blog, I thought I would try my had at lifestyle blogging.  After a few posts it just didn't feel right to put my baby daughter and young family on public display. And then it dawned on me, Dashfield is my blog, I can write whatever the hell I like on it, I don't have to stay vintage exclusive.  It's my home on the internet, it's a reflection of me in way and I want to continue to use it for documenting all the beautiful things that inspire me.

So for those of you who have followed me faithfully as I flit from one place to another (thank you), I'm happy to tell you that I've gone full circle and found my way home again.  I have changed, my life has changed greatly since the early beginnings of Dashfield, so changes are coming over the next few months to both the blog and other related projects too.
xx