Special birthday post

I'm just going to take a short break from crafty and sewing talk today to tell you a little more about myself (read: it's my blog and i'll self indulge if I want to... :). Today is my 30th birthday and I'm pretty excited! I'm happy to have survived the perils of my 20s, and have to say those formative adult years have taught me a lot. Sometimes through beatings with a heavy stick, other times through subtle or startling revelations, but either way, a mostly fun and surprising voyage.

Anyway, the purpose of this post was to tell you about a wonderful present from my dear friends and share some photos with you from my birthday party over the weekend.

For some time, I have been complaining to anyone who'll listen about my sewing machine set up at home. For the last couple of years I have been using one of those school exam hall desks (that I may have 'borrowed' from my previous teaching job....). These desks have collapsible legs and are therefore not particularly sturdy for a sewing machine. One time my cat Claude jumped on the table and it collapsed sending my sewing machine crashing to the floor! It survived but the cat got a bit of a fright.... (He didn't do that again!)

Anyway, on Saturday afternoon as I was getting ready for my party, my good friends Wendy and Aaron dropped by to give me a birthday present that 12 of my friends had pooled together to buy- an awesome sewing station!

 It is such a great size, you can fold it all out when you're using it and put it away when you're finished. There are lots of shelves and compartments to put bits and pieces which will help me to be more organised.
My friends are so lovely and I feel lucky to have such wonderful and thoughtful people in my life. :) I can't wait to use it!

To celebrate my birthday, I went out to a nice bar in a suburb of Sydney called Glebe. The room we booked had a little fireplace and was decked out with comfy chairs and a glam chaise. Here's a picture of me pretending to be regal on the chaise. :)

For my outfit I needed something suitable for winter but also something a little special since it was my 30th. I decided on this dress by the Australian made and owned brand, Pilgrim. I like that it has a vintage quality to it in the neckline and drape. It was lovely to wear. For my shoes I chose a glam pair of patent leather heels with a vintage style buckle. They come from the brand 'easy steps' who make comfy shoes heralded by Australian nanas everywhere. :) I love them and figure now I'm 30 I can get away with old lady shoes! hee hee.

To complete the vintage style outfit I dug up an old jeweled necklace and bought a sweet butterfly applique headband. My hair was curled but in the humidity with the fireplace, the curls fell out almost straight away as evident in this pic.

I had a lovely time celebrating with my friends that night, it was heaps of fun.
Here are a few of my favourites pictures taken by my clever husband: (and yes, my friends are a little mad..... in the best way possible of course :)

So another birthday is over. It has been fun reflecting on things and I can honestly say i'm excitedly looking forward to the next 10 years, especially if I have these people and my wonderful husband to laugh with the whole way through.

Ok, back to craftiness now, I hope this little glimpse hasn't been too boring!

xx