Wallpaper, Cake & Rugby

I think we should have 4 day weekends all the time - you can get so much done! Friday was a beautiful day, so it was very much a chill-out, leisure day. Yesterday was rainy and cold, so we wallpapered our entranceway wall. I'm so happy with it - after much deliberation I went back to my original love of Designers Guild and chose this Anichov Aqua print, which the girls from Small Acorns got in for me. It has all my favourite colours.

Our entranceway at the end of the hall used to be an outside porch, and has a lovely big window looking out over the Botanical Gardens. We moved the door 90° to the porch entrance, raised the floor so it was the same level as our hallway, removed the weatherboards and gibbed the walls making it an extension of the hallway. It's fantastic because the window lets sun and light into the house, and we have a great view out over the Gardens. I love the shot of colour the wallpaper gives you as you come in, and I am now searching for the perfect console table and home decor to set it off.

Today (Sunday), among other things, I made Annabelle Langbein's Ultimate Chocolate Cake. For all of you who are not Kiwis, Annabelle is an awesome celebrity cook, food writer and publisher. Her recipes are delicious and easy enough for non-foodies like me to create. The cake was divine, and fed the workers who are here building our pergola. And it's such a big recipe it made two cakes, so I have popped one in the freezer for next time. Click here for the recipe (I only made half the amount of Ganache and it was plenty!).

Tonight we will all be watching the final of the World Cup Rugby cheering our boys in black on. And then tomorrow is another holiday - yay, so happy!

Richard Kahui, Sonny Bill Williams & Dan Carter - 3 gorgeous boys!