Shopping in Issa Ivanhoe

I had not been in this shop for ages! Last time I was in Helena was showing me Elk's winter collection catalogue. Now she is showing me the summer collection! Heads up Elk fans, there are lots of silk dresses! There was guilt on my face... I don't know why I had been in. I think I changed my lunchtime grocery shop routine to go to another place instead.

Display table of soaps

Check out the display table for soaps! And those are not prints, they are original watercolour paintings but framed. I want them!

Display shelves

The problem with going into this shop is that you want everything.. everything.. did I say everything? Then you see this ... And you must have it.

Flamingos WANT

I have wanted flamingos in the garden since forever. Mick said no.. so what do I do? BUY BUY BUY. I bought these and another Lovebird Candle in French Vanilla and Hazelnut. The smell omgawd.. yummy.

Pink Flamingos

I ran home and got so excited, I had to set them up!! Look it comes with instructions for people like me. LOL! Except I could not insert metal legs and I had to call them for some SOS on it. It turns out you had to jam one of them in. So jam it in I did.

Camp as Rick Martin in a row of tents 

Check that out! I have set them up near the front door in case someone decides that they want a pair too and will help themselves to them. They are NEON pink! OMG!! D calls them eagles and Mick's love for them grew too. He has now decided to drill a hole in the bum and stick lighting in them. :O

Remember that porcelain ring that I got from Mick? Check out the matching earrings!

Love Heart Earrings

Lastly.. I leave you with this item from Issa. If you are looking for a baby shower gift. Check these out! You pull the cord and the old fashion music box style type of lullaby plays. This one plays Over the Rainbow. You cannot really see it, but there are silver tears in the grey cloud. :)

Baby Shower suggestion

First Christmas Day at home

This is the first Christmas day we had at home .. turns out to be a great big blessing that we did not drive anywhere. Please read further to look at what happened at our deck.

The menu plan was as follows and trust me when I say that my entire fridge is packed full of extravagant food. We had a big ham waiting to be studded and glazed. Prawns marinated in lemon rind, garlic and chilli to be skewered or the BBQ. And a whole snapper on the BBQ steamed in a foil package.

The kids tore into their presents this morning. We had balloons everywhere, stockings filled with Hot Wheels cars and gifts under their little tree. I received this from Mick - the porcelain ring with Love written on it. Mick realised that I wanted it and ran back to Issa Home Wares. :) Thank you! But it was the wrong size. Boo! He must think I have fat fingers or will have fat fingers after chowing into the ham.

For breakfast, I did buttermilk pancakes. One word nommmyyy. It is different to the normal pancakes that I do in terms of texture and it had a 'crusty' edge. It is a nice change but I am not sure that Mick thoroughly liked it. He ate it nonetheless... probably because it was covered in butter and maple syrup.

Then the fun begins with the ham. Skin it, get the glaze and then bake. I ran out to Bolton street and bought some salads. Glad that there were some spare ones in the fridge for sale. So ta daaaa we had surf and turf. The oysters that I collected from my friend was so amazing. It tasted creamy and I really need to find out which sort they were as I think I need to get them next time.

Had another coffee after lunch, just because.. and grazed on the mochi as our dessert. There was a tray filled with half red bean mochi and half was custard mochi made by a friend's Auntie. OMG these are the best ever and the sad thing is. Money cannot buy these, she will only make these on special occasions!

So we were lounging around the deck while the boys ran up and down with their trolleys. Got on and off their bikes as they zipped up and down. Decided it was looking like rain was coming in and moved the cushions off the deck lounge. One hour later, it absolutely bucketed down with hail. It was so heavy that I held onto D and had to pretend that I was not scared. But I was scared! When it stopped, we did a stock take around the house to see if anything was broken in the hail. Look what I saw!

The BBQ idea had to be dropped. We had the snapper in the oven, put a bit of rice on in the rice cooker instead of salads then pan fried the garlic prawns. I think I will be doing a Nigella Lawson and grazing on cold ham and mochi straight from the fridge. Kids were thankfully easy to get to bed.. actually I think that I will chow down some more mochi right now. Better wait for Mick to come back in from draining the yard.

Little Shop of Pretty Things - Issa in Ivanhoe

I met Helena many years ago since moving to our house. We used to run down to the pie shop that her mother owns on Burgundy Street hoping that we got there before it closed on a Saturday. The pie shop has since changed hands and so did Mad Meg's which was owned by Helena's brother. It has indeed been at least 4 years since I said that I will go to the shop. I am so bad! It is just that I do not to go Ivanhoe during times that the shop is open. I always drive past when it is closed and I can only see the shop window. And what a shop window it is! Well thankfully Issa has not changed hands and I finally made it in to have a browse while waiting for my sushi to be ready next door.

Issa is filled with pretty things, it is one of those shops that you describe as pretty little shop. You know the ones where you go in and you cannot not buy anything. She had porcelain rings with Love written on them. Sterling silver earrings, cute rose earrings, candles, bon bon soaps, cushions, room fragrance sticks, clothes, baby items, home wares.. well the list goes on. Helena told me her daughter and her decorated the front window and tries to change it often. Look at all the pretty Bison vases and home wares in the shopfront.

Exceptionally proud of D and L for not touching anything. I had bought a pair of rose earrings that were light pink in colour. When I went home, I realised it was too light for my skin tone. Mick suggested we take everyone down and get them exchanged for a darker colour. So I had warned D before going in that it is a little shop of things and he cannot touch anything. But he can smell if Mummy helps him hold things. Issa stocks Lovebird candles which are made in Melbourne. A fresh batch of candles were getting delivered and I held them up for D to smell. D thanked for the lady for her pretty candles .. such a little charmer. Candle lovers unite .. I have been buying way too many candles lately to replenish the old ones. But I just cannot leave without picking up one of these. I bought french pear, lime and coconut. She had an amazing melon scented one which I will have to get next time. I'm almost hoping that these candles burn a bit quicker so I can get some more!!! Trust me candle lovers, you need to get some of these!

I exchanged for these purple rose earrings and Mick bought me a pair of pretty tree shaped sterling silver ones. They were the first thing that caught my eye in the jewellery cabinet. Check out how my earrings were wrapped above! I am going back to get the Love porcelain rings next time.

Being in Issa is making me want to redecorate my house. Now just to get the boys to grow up quicker and get rid of the colourful plastic toys that are engulfing the dining room! I will have to make do with pretty earrings and messy house for now. The tree earrings are below.

Oh and outfit of the day - Stella McCartney for Target. I am glad that we had some sunny weather to put this on!

Issa Homeware and Gifts is at 149 Upper Heidelberg Road cnr Waterdale in Ivanhoe. There is parking at the back but just as easy to get a parking spot at Coles behind. If you do go there, drop into Cosi Duci for gelati afterwards!