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**
Love both your blogs! And “mama needs a new pair of shoes”
!
Love the picture of Kasey in France with the white skirt and all the photos of her house especially the bistro table with yellow accessories. Fabulous interview! Have a great day and thanks for the chance to win an Anthro card – i love that place!! xxoo
I love the birthday cake in the birdcage. I think an Alice themed birthday party is pure genius. And with four daughters I am always taking notes on fun girly ideas. Thanks.
i love kasey’s shoes and envy her finds. my tj maxx seems to not be as well stocked as hers!
just shared this with my facebook pals! i may have decreased my odds, but i had to share. love your blog btw.
love the birdcage and cake!
love her vintage look alike shoes…. All of them. My Tj’s never has vintage styled shoes, or maybe I’m always to late to the party.
I love the pic of the shoes in the old suitcase. So original. Anthropologie sounds great.
their is actually one of Kasey’s closet that was featured on Houzz and her blog and it’s one of my favorites! Thanks for the chance Sarah your blog looks fab!! susan
I confess I have saved on my desktop the photo with the hatboxes. Very elegant, and I liked how that touch of brown made it a touch warmer. I also loved the one with the yellow shoes and painted nails showing a little through. Very feminine. Please enter my name. thank you for accepting overseas participants, too. Be happy.
I love the greyish purple heels with the ruffles! I love all things with ruffles!!
Good interview…Kasey is so funny, and has great taste in shoes….I love them all!
I like the mercury glass decanters, and the mustard colored t-strap shoes.
Love your pictures, especially the lilacs. We can’t grow them in Southern California
I love the contrast of the paint with the cottagey whites in the room with the balloons on the ceiling. Great shade of blue on the wall!
Pick ME! I love Anthro and your blog!
I adore Kasey’s house and her shoe collection! She has amazing style, both in the home and fashion! I love her blog and her witty humor:)
Love those yellow strap shoes!! I think Kasey said in her blog that she got them at Nordstrom’s. Too cute!
Shoes, shoes, shoes! ‘Nuf said!
Kasey has a beautiful home and equally beautiful shoes!
So, I pretty much love everything Kasey has done with her home. I follow her blog daily! As for those amazing shoes, I am trying not to be envious.
I just drooled over Anthro’s shoes today so a gift card would be pretty nice.
Hmmm…first i LOVE the picture of the cake in the birdcage…wasn’t that from her daughters birthday party? And for the shoe pics….gotta be the grey t-strap shoes from the shot outside on what looks like a daybed….those shoes are FABULOUS!!!
So I’ve been following Kasey for a while now, and if I could just move into her house, I would. Just sayin’… I LOVE how she’s decorated her house! I love her sitting room and I love Lola’s room! And yes, I love her shoes- I especially love her boots from Anthro.
Retweeted this great give-away!
It’s all about the shoes! Love her blog!
I love love her yellow shoes, so cute! I also love her round table with the pretty yellow tea cups.
Did someone say anthro????
Love the way they describe themeselves with ‘clever details and fine craftsmanship’
Everything is just goregous
Photos……all are lovely
but the clock wall with white crockery is just darling
I really like the pic of the round suit case an shoes.. you both have great blogs!
Love the pink ones with the ruffles!
i’m obsessed with 3 things:
1) the white washed wooden picture frames
2) the round wooden slat table
3) those pink shoes with the ruched ruffles
oh those shoes…
I love her blog! Her shoes, her style, everything. She is amazing….
Loved this interview….I follow her blog but sure got to know her a bit more here…those shoes with the heals and ruffles on top were very cool!
I love your blog. I get a lot of great ideas and could spend hours reading it(which I do, no wonder my house is a mess). I am also from Aust. and wish we had such shops as ANTHROPOLOGIE and T.J Max but will have to do with Hot Dollar for now. I love the picture with the old clock faces, look’s fantastic.
I am new to all these blogs and had no idea there was so much inspiration out there in blog land. I am thinking of starting my own blog because just like you I am a big believer in reinventing furniture and DIY. I hate to see any furniture on a road side curb waiting to go to the tip and can’t help but rescue it and try and use it in my house. Love love love your blog!
Loooooove the pic of her looking down at her yellow shoes. Neat perspective!!
I adore Kasey’s blog!she’s the sweetest!
And her shoes and house are so amazing it’s really difficult to pick just one pair or one room!
Even though I had a crush on the yellow ones!And for that mirror wall in her bathroom!So crative!
I liked her pink shoes best and her picture with the vintage scales. Thanks for this giveaway chance!!
The one with mirrors!!! love it!!!! I love anthro!!!!!!
Oh how I adore Kasey…and how fun you featured her on your blog…you both have wonderful blogs that I love
My favorite picture may be of Lola’s Room and/or her sitting room….they are just gorgeous like she is
xo
I would LOVE that “Flea Market Chick” pink t-shirt! x
Okay, how on Earth can I narrow it down among all those gorgeous shoes? I’m going to have to go with either the gray ones in the second shoe pic, or the strappy ruffly ones lolling on the settee… That’s as close to a decision as I can get!
Love Kasey and love her shoes……cute interview Sarah, xv.
I adore all of the photos, but the one I think is the most striking is one with the white balloons floating above the dining table.
I love the black bordered sign on the wall, because the contrast of the sign against the yummy blue is amazing.
This just doesn’t look like an abode that could exist in Chicago! It looks more like an enchanted European village.
So lovely!
Thanks for the giveaway opportunity!
Wow for Kasey’s shoes! I will definitely need to revisit TJ Maxx!
I adore the gray heels she is wearing as she lounges on the steel daybed.
Also, the delicately winged cream set taken from a bird’s-eye view (how appropriate!) are so feminine.
Love them all!
Oooo, I just love Kasey! My favorite pic is the one of the industrial looking cart with the ironstone. Love the femme with the rustic/tough look! Oh, and the shoes…..love em!
ohh how i love Miss Kasey … I have found many a deal at TJ Maxx cause of that girl .( like some rockin boots) .. Love how she uses the mirror on the wall and just love the shoes in the old suitcase…
Beth
Love the little table and chair set with the lemons in the bowl and yellow cups and saucers–that pop of color is perfect! As for the shoes, what can I say? LOVE them all!!! I too love shoes and would wear any of them, Anthro shoes are quirky, stylish and perk up any outfit you wear!!! They are like the icing on the cake!!!
Great Interview! I love the photo of the legs on the old bed out in the sunshine! All the shoes are lovely but I like the grey ones in the photo I like!
I love everything about Kasey! She’s darling! And the pic w/those ruffled shoes w/white skirt–my fav! The best day for me was when I found the exact same shoes at Target!
I love, love, love those little grey ruffly t-straps!
love the interview…..so funny!!! love the yellow pokadot shoes…too cute!!!