As I mentioned in my last post, we recently had an amazing time in the Nelson-Tasman area. We stayed at a bed and breakfast in Mapua and nature was all around. Plant and animal life is so different just a few short hours (and a ferry ride) away from Wellington, and it was awesome hanging out with tui, quails, fantails, geese, and many baby pukeko. So fluffy, so cute. Jason took these photos, most with his macro lens on digital and the first and last on his minolta.

I have been having a marvelous summer, I’ve ticked off so many things on my Summer Goals list without even meaning to, only about five things left to go! I thought I’d start my return to blogging by sharing my summer instagrams with you.

Wellington: Eating, drinking, Christmas parties, and more recently, gigs. This weekend I went to Fleet Foxes and Beirut – too much fun.

Auckland: Awesome Christmas family time, shopping and strolling in Cornwall Park. All the food.

Raumati: Holidaying in a spacious bach with lots of good people. Rain, sunshine, barbeques, fancy NYE dinner complete with cat’s ears, fluffy neighbour kittens, and I Have Never in the best fort ever.

Nelson: The ferry, a bed and breakfast with a glorious garden full of tuis and friendly cats, beer tasting, magical treehouses. Not pictured: Emma’s amazing wedding! I was too busy helping Jason take the official photos to grab any snaps.

Sorry for such photo-heaviness, I only put up about half of what I wanted to! If you’d like to follow me on instagram, search for kate_mcleod.

Props to my friend Willow for making me want to make my own Summer Goals.

Help cook Christmas dinner.
Picnic.
Read a billion books.
Eat fish and chips (sans fish) by the sea.
Take film photos.
Drink smoothies galore.
Find delightful dresses in small-town op shops.
Write in parks and cafes.
Discover new music.
Make tomato pie.
Wear flowers in my hair.
Have a fancy dinner on NYE.
Go to weddings in Nelson and Whakatane.
Drink at a winery.
Tell ghost stories or play truth or dare in a blanket fort.
Make new animal friends.
Cook halloumi, asparagus and portobello mushrooms on a barbeque.
Plan overseas adventures.
Share homemade brunch with friends.
Turn somersaults (FLIPS) in the ocean.
Eat blueberries on chocolate cereal.

It’s a chilly one here in Wellington, a perfect time to post these pictures and remember what fun my friends and I had on our new years bach holiday at Waitarere, and think longingly about the fun we’ll have this coming summer.

All photos by Jason.

On new years eve we put on our glad rags (I wore a dress I bought from an op shop that very day), drank bubbles or gin, and had a fancy dinner before dancing into the night.  I’m hoping for the same again this year, and some sort of pagan picnic (barefoot frolicking! red wine! crown of foliage in our hair!) on new years day.

Jason just developed a roll of film from ten months ago, with no idea what was on it. Turns out, all sorts of summery goodness! These pictures are from our friend’s wedding in Opotiki, my family Christmas in Auckland, and the Festival of the Lights at Pukikura Park in New Plymouth.

I made cupcakes for SPCA Cupcake Day at work. They tasted of chocolate, guinness and cream cheese icing and looked like little boats.

Wellington on a Plate happened, and I went to Cafe Polo and munched on this delicious vegetarian burger: ricotta patties, beetroot chutney, hummus and walnuts, with onion rings and truffled fries, woah.

Another time, ages ago, I had their big vegetarian breakfast and it proved insurmountable.

I also had an amazing Welly on a Plate 3 course meal at my fave Floriditas, but it was dark so I didn’t take any photos. So you may instead see photos from my previous two visits.

Not to mention all the lovely meals I’ve shared with friends at various homes. Looking forward to spring, summer and more salads, outdoor meals and cider in the sun.

Via Katherineisawesome, who has some choice party pics from the event up.

photo from our window by ma gurl Kim

It’s snowing all over Wellington, including at sea level! Apparently for the first time in 35 years? I’ve certainly never seen the likes of it round these parts before. The whole city is abuzz with childlike glee, but I’m also making time to whinge about getting through this week of freeze with a cold in an uninsulated house. The reason I feel a cold coming on is probably because of the time I spent yesterday scraping snow and ice off our car so I could throw snowballs at our flatmates. Worth it.

Edit: look at these photos from Wellington Zoo.

I always look forward to seeing the new Ruby collections. I must have missed this lookbook coming out as some of this is already in store, but a nice suprise, especially since it’s only a month to wait for another new collection at their NZFW show.

More here.

So much pretty!