.the princess portal.

In the heart of this city, right on the edge of the central business district is a vacant block. For most of the year its just sand and weeds, nothing special and barely noticed by the hundreds of cars that drive by it each day. However, for just a couple of weeks in early spring it is transformed in to a sea of pink and white flowers, everlastings, with tall green stems and petals dry as paper. Noone who drives past can help but gaze at this unusual sight, and some stop to pick flowers, or walk through the field. It is a brief but beautiful change and I go there every year to pick a bunch for the Queen’s Birthday.

This year, Sab and I went for a little photoshoot. It was quite early in the morning and we were the only ones there, although several cars stopped to watch and were consequently honked when they missed the lights. You can read more about the photoshoot over at Sab’s blog. I had a lot of fun doing this shoot, having my hair french braided and making a flower wreath. I’m really happy with how the photos came out! Sab managed to give them a light, airy, nostalgic feel that fits perfectly with my vintage dress.

Today Mirai and I drove up in to the beautiful Perth Hills to a place called Araluen, a garden tucked away in a little valley, full of flowers, fountains, lakes and gazebos. In spring they have a fabulous show of tulips. It has many special memories for me, not the least of which is my Midsummer Night’s Dream themed party which was held there last year.

The purpose of our journey today, however, was to celebrate our friend Jeff’s birthday. Jeff and his girlfriend Emily hosted a fun barbeque and it was great to catch up with everyone and enjoy the scenery too. The gardens were very busy despite the cold weather, which was wonderful to see because there are fears that is will be shut down soon due to lack of funding. If you live in Perth you might like to consider a visit and donation!

I wore my vintage toile dress with the little pink rosebuds on it and my satin slippers. Mirai snapped these photos when we went for a short walk. There were so many snowbells and tulips and a gorgeous cherry blossom tree which I was enchanted by.

Happy Birthday to Jeff! I hope you like the cape and thanks for hosting a fun day and giving us all a chance to visit this beautiful spot!

I’ve had a very busy weekend and it just seems to have flown by! On Saturday I saw Donican off at the airport, she is heading to Japan to live for a year and it was sad to see her go, but I am excited to know she is now safely in Tokyo and will be heading to her new home soon. We all miss her very much. In the evening I went to a Quiz night held by the local convention organization. It was a lot of fun, even if I was still a bit tired. Our team came third!

Today Mirai and I decided to do an impromptu photoshoot idea we had come up with late Friday night. There are some really beautiful doors and gates in our city, and I had just recieved a new dress (I love the floral lace fabric and high backed collar!) so we thought it would be interesting to take a few photos around the city. We ended up mixing in a few other ideas as well and buying a big bunch of lilies to carry around. Steph was also in the city so she joined us in our gallivanting. We shared a jaffa icecream and posed with tourists who wanted photos of us aswell. This is my favourite shot from the day, you can see the rest in the gallery, they were all taken by Mirai. It was lovely to spend the day with the girls messing around and taking some photos with whatever inspired us. Thank you both for your time and company!