G’day Beach Cottagers, guess what (and if you Facebook with me, you’ll already know)? I’m having an ANTHROPOLOGIE giveaway today to celebrate a little something (well actually it was a large something for me) I recently purchased from the lovely ANTHRO, that I’ll be showing you soon…
Anyway I have a lovely gal over here with us today…thought you might like to come sit with a drink while we chat…her name is Kasey and she blogs right here and after lots of my readers here told me I’d just lurve her blog I never did quite make it over there until a few months ago…and they were right…it’s a funny old world this blogging one is it not?…getting to know people over the oceans in their home towns from the study of a tatty old cottage on the beaches of Sydney
…sit back and enjoy the ride, this girl is right up my alley…shame I can’t go have a drink with her in France…and yep she really does look that good in skirts…
Thank you sarah for inviting me over to chit chat about my little world. Grab yourself a glass of wine…and make yourself at home.
Oops….i forgot that Sarah is allergic to wine….oh dear. Everyone has permission to have an extra glass for her then…and i myself…might have an extra also.Just one though…because anymore then two…i might make hot dogs for dinner….and we don’t want that.
well it is a sad and gloomy world for those of us who get an adult-onset wine allergy, I do not recommend it at all Kasey, though for sure it hasn’t stopped me making hot dogs for dinner
So I am a pretty new reader of your blog, when did you start blogging and why?
I started blogging a few years ago when i had a brick & mortar shop…it was a way to let my customers know what was going on in our little world. ….but then i closed my shop….and started talking more about my family and life…with a bit about my style.
sigh I just love your style….
How do you fit in running a successful blog and being a mum to three?
Oh boy….the whole balance question. I’ve always stated….blog comes first….family comes second.
oops…
i mean cooking and cleaning first….blogging second…then family last.
I really believe that if you put family first…then you end up being the mom servant…you end up cooking and cleaning for them…maybe dressing the kids in the morning and making sure hair is brushed.
ugh. who really wants that?
Alright….i’ll come clean….i’ll fess up and tell the truth.
Sometimes my family comes first……actually….somehow they always come first….and the blog comes in a clean last.
I tend to write about my life and kids quite a bit…..so the balance is there…i just write about life…my life.
hmm so you’re telling me that I shouldn’t really have been locking my kids in a cupboard for the last year so that I can blog? Is that right?
You and I seem to share a love of vintage things, what are some of your favourite pieces in your home?
I love mixing vintage with clean modern look. I love white slip covered sofa’s…but i also love industrial….so mixing
the two is easy.
I just bought an old door that had a beveled mirror on it at the flea market…it has to be one of my favorite pieces right now.I bought it for a steal….and that is one thing i proud myself on…is finding pieces that are very inexpensive.
I don’t believe you have to spend a fortune to make your home beautiful….it might take time….but it doesn’t have to be expensive.
same here, I am loving a bit of industrial at the moment too and yep its always good for the pocketbook to shop from fleamarkets and even better if one steals furniture from outside other people’s houses
How does the white and Frenchy look work with the kiddos?
My kids are not allowed in any of the rooms with furniture…i really try and keep them in their bedrooms
all day if possible. If they are caught touching one of my antique ironstone pitchers…then i tie them to the tree out front and they have to stay there all day. It’s the only thing that works…otherwise they would be jumping all over my white furniture and touching all of my pretty things.
oh wow I thought that was only my dirty little secret, I wonder do you feed them while they are tied up or like me do you throw the odd pack of chips at them while you style your sofa??
Alright….not really…i only tied them to that tree ONE time…..and i promise never to do it again.
pinky promise!
My style is what my kids know…..its all they know. I have white slip covered sofa’s from Ikea….which i think i wash on a semi-weekly basis….and slip covered white really is do able with children..plus white just yells…clean and comfortable.
you said it girlie
I know a girl who has a magazine worthy home….but does not let her children in most of the rooms. I don’t want my children growing up like that….i want my children to remember how their home is pretty…but that they are welcome everywhere…its their home as well.
Some of us might remember growing up and having that one room…the FAMILY ROOM….that was for ADULTS only….and really…it was the only room that only got used a few times a year.
Not here in my house….family room is for family…..all of them…dirty hands and all.
Even though…the next time i find an ant pile because one of the children "accidentally" left a popsicle wrapper under the sofa….i’m sending them to live in Australia.
they’d fit in well Down Under in a tatty old cottage with white sofas that grow chocolate wrappers under pillows…
So how come you ended up where you are now and how’s that different to California?
We moved here to the Chicago area 3 years ago from Colorado due to my husbands job relocation.
That was the toughest move ever….because i really felt settled. { we lived in the San Fran bay area before moving to colorado}.
I love living here….and have made some really fabulous friends. It’s the weather that kills me…i really do
not love the frigid cold of winter.
If the chance come to move again…i think we would move back to the bay area of Cali.
I love the mild winters in which i can still layer my clothes {i have an Anthro shopping problem}..
and we can be near the beach….the wine country {i love my wine….}…and the mountains.
really, I never woulda picked up that you love wine 
hmm I’m thinking I need to find me some Anthro layering for Sydney winters
tell me again, quite how do you make fabulous friends when re-locating, i haven’t quite cracked that yet??
A strange thing has happened to me since I started reading your blog…I have swapped my jeans & flip flops for skirts and find myself incessantly oggling hair clips, do you have this effect on other people too?
Sarah…..i love your look….don’t change a thing!
I can’t really wear jeans because when i sit down….my belly fat oozes over…so that is why i wear skirts…elastic band around the waste.
I don’t really wear flip flops because of my toe fungus.
My hair clips are only because i have a huge bald spot on my head…so the hair clips always disguise that.
oh wow, you mean if I do skirts I won’t have an oozing muffin top?
ahh yes, I see now those shoes are good for disguising fungus…
I heard you used to do Fashion Friday, is that coming back anytime soon?
I loved doing fashion friday….and will start back up soon.
Thank you for giving me the OKAY to go out and buy more clothes…because i must have new clothes in order to do fashion friday.
If my husband calls you because i told him you said okay….then just go with it.
ok, no worries…a little birdie I know named Darcy told me husbands on your side of the water and my pommie accent go down quite well, so I might be able to work a little something out with him…
What’s some of your fave places to shop…for shoes and homewares and girly things?
I really do love Ikea…and a place here in the states called Homegoods. I love perusing thru Anthro’s home
department…to get ideas…then finding the things elsewhere for less.
I find a lot of my shoes at T.J.Maxx…but will spend some good dollars on boots when Anthro debut’s their fall line up.
I’m a boot girl…..and i love me some ruffled slip covered furniture.
how very funny…I love IKEA too and boy-oh-boy have I heard a mint about Homegoods…bring on my trip to the States that’s coming up….rocking Anthro and Homegoods…
Hey did you get the styling call from Anthro yet ??
??Not yet Sarah……why……do you know someone that could hook me up?
oh don’t worry I have connections…it won’t be long…think you may well have to tie the kids up tho
Do you have plans brewing for your blog and what is coming up next at your place?
I don’t have one single plan brewing at the moment……other then getting thru the summer
with three kids home and a mountain of laundry pilling up in the corner.
This last year has been pretty amazing…i was able to travel to France with a close friend…it was my
first visit there…..and have been writing here and there for some places {like here…thank you sarah}..
but my life is really content right now.
I just take life as it comes…..one day at a time. If something presents itself….then we will see….but so far…
no one has knocked on my door and asked if they could be my personal chef for a year…..so right now…i’ll just keep cooking boxed meals for my family and documenting about it on my blog.
same here Kasey, my doorbell sure ain’t been ringing off with requests for my services so guess I’m right there with you…cooking fish fingers and just bloggin’ along for the ride
Hope you enjoyed our chat and if you don’t know Kasey, go say G’day!
And just because I fancy it and because I am surely revving up to my trip to the States whereupon the good people at Anthropologie have offered me a couple of nights in one of their Cali shops, this post has an ANTHROPOLOGIE giftcard giveaway attached to it… OPEN WORLDWIDE tho’ if you win and you are in Aus or somewhere tricky for Anthro it’ll be from somewhere very nearly as nice 
all you gotta do to win is :-
tell me which homey pic in this post of Kasey’s ya love?
or much more interestingly
and because she pretends she doesn’t have a lot of them
but I think she rather does
let me know
what you think of her shoes?
I’ll be seeing you sweeties around…
**comment = entry, more you comment more you enter**Facebook/Tweet this to double up**
I love the wall with the mirrors!
Just wanted to say I’m new to both of your blogs and I love you both!!
I also hate Walmart, thank you.
I love the wall with all the little clock faces!! And her shoes…I die!!
This is a ridiculously fun interview, and I love everything French so I really love Kasey and ALL her rooms
And the SHOES, oh the shoes….
Absolutely j’adore Kasey and her over-the-top funny self! And I would LOVE if she moved back to the Bay Area!
Great interview!
The sweet and sexy shoes where you’re reclining on the outdoor lounge are the exact shoes my beautiful young daughter wore on her wedding day. I must say she looked stunning and we had beautiful pedicures to go with. Love your house Kasey. Love it; Love it!
Sarah, I don’t see the blog name for Kasey; please, could you share? She loves the white as much as we do, right? Thanks so much.
I love all the pics…but especially the one with the white pitcher and lilacs and the one with all the clock faces on the wall.
I love the one of the girl laying on the outside couch and conveniently it has my favourite shoes in it too!!
Cheryl
I just love you girls, & your fabulous blogs! So darn addicting! Kasey rocks, & either has me rolling in laughter or drooling over her amazing pictures, & cute stuff!!!!
Love the interview! Is there a winner yet? I hope its me please
Found your blog through Lola B.’s and I’m definitely adding it to my bookmarks! I only like Walmart when it is convenient.
Hello All!
My favorite pic is the one with the white puddling curtains, taupe chair and three white framed pics on the wall.
Please pick me!!!!!!
Mary
I love the picture of her friend’s legs in the grey heels on the old daybed. (I actually like all of them but you made me pick just one…)
The lilacs are my favorite.
I do love Kasey’s white slip-covered furniture, but my favorite picture is of the white balloons against the blue-gray walls.
After reading your post and seeing all those lovely photos, I have a craving for fresh summer yellow shoes (not thongs) and a little lemon tea cake.
Love that attitude and style.
I love the picture with the balloons! That sign is amazing!
oh and i love those ruffled pumps!
Kasey really does love her shoes, I like the last pair- yellow polka dot & bows, plus the camel pink rueched ones (I’d probably actually wear those, but like looking at the yellow ones). Love those white-washed picture frames and mirror too!
You two definitely are decorating twins! An IKEA gift card would be ok for people not in the US.
I swear I have a shoe fetish. I loved them all but my favorite pair is the pink pair. Anthropologie is one of my favorites!
I am still laughing out loud. You ladies are hysterical. Especially about the kids, the tree, the chips, and the piles of laundry. Oh boy can I relate! Sarah, You are gonna love Home Goods. some days I just go to look around, and then I feel better. Ummnnn It’s a little like the huntress at a flee market feeling.
I love the yellow shoes shot looking down at them! I’d love to share the Anthro gift card with my lovely daughter!
I love the tea party scene!
I Love all of them,but especially the wall full of clocks!!!Great style!!!sue
What a delightful interview you’ve done with Kasey. The two of you are both some of my favorite bloggers, and it was so fun to read your interaction with one another. A hoot for sure…
This post was so great!
I loved the photo with the various clock faces on the wall, with the fabulous vintage mirror, the display rack with the wonderful patina and all of the great ironstone displayed on it.
Would love to be a winner of the Anthro gift card, so will cross my fingers. lol
When and where are you coming to the US?
Gretchen
You girls are adorable! It so hard to choose one favorite photo… as I saw the photo in the dining room with all the balloons I instanlty could picture myself having a great time chit chatting and eating with friends all while listening to some fun music. Where is the necklace from in the picture with the striped cardigan?? Love the outfit, so stylish!
I know that the one of the girl on the bed is not her but I do love that photo. I love everything about Kasey! I want to be her when I grow up:)
I tweeted the giveaway.
Hello ~ could I possibly get so lucky again?!! I haven’t used my GC I won from you yet ~ I promised my princess I would not go to the store without her. Our schedules have not worked out since she came home from school! I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed!! Beautiful, inspiring photos today ~ thank you both!!
I love the “eat me” cake photo. Casey does a lovely job! I hope she has another soiree so I can come next time!!
Love your blog~
Love Kasey’s blog~
LOVE anthro! So glad I found you two…and hope to win a little anthro! I friended you on FB too!
Oh, how I love Anthro…
I love the picture of the table with the beautiful, yellow cups. Makes me want to be there, sitting and drinking a cup of tea with my honey, or having a tea party with my kids.
And, hmm…..what do I think of her shoes….? I want them! They are beautiful!
mmalavec@med.umich.edu
I LOVE LOVE the brown ruffle shoes with kaseys legs relaxed out on the lawn chair. I am also CASEY! and cannot tell you how much i NEED an anthro card to purchase AG stevies that I have been DYING for but cannot afford. Thanks for the giveaway and LOVE the blog!
casey
chonig2@gmail.com
I LOVE the last picture with the fireplace mantel with luggage inside it. How crafty!
I love the close-up of the oh so pretty pink peep toes with the ruffle details!!
What’s not to love?!
I love the photo on the lounge with the slate coloured shoes… divine!