Yes, they’ve been on my mind for a while and I have to post about them, so just bare with me while I am eating for two.  They are kind of quick, kind of healthy and with the treat on top, perfect! 

You’ll need:

8 popsicle/iceblock sticks or skewers

Melting chocolate – about 1kg or about 3 cups of your favourite chocolate bar.

4-6 Bananas

3 Tbsp butter

Toppings:

Hundreds and Thousands/Sprinkles

Crushed peanuts or desiccated coconut

Mini M&M’s or any other goodies you want added

Directions:

Peel bananas.  If you like, slice them length ways or in half to make them a little smaller for the kids.

Push skewers in and lay on a tray (baking or wax paper underneath to stop them sticking) and place in the freezer – minimum 10 minutes to make them nice and cold.

Melt the chocolate according to instructions with the added butter.  In a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring occasionally (double boiler method), or in the microwave.

Lay out toppings on flat trays and get ready….

Remove bananas from freezer and get dipping in the chocolate – use a spoon if required to help cover them well. QUICKLY roll them through the toppings before the chocolate begins to harden!  Seriously no messing around,  the cold banana will make the chocolate set quickly.  

Place back on tray and either chill in freezer till needed or serve immediately.  So good!

The chocolate you don’t use, just pour into a dish, cool and break into pieces to eat later.  Can be wrapped in foil and kept in fridge.

Chalk boards in adhesive vinyl are everywhere at present, or is it just that I’ve noticed them because I’m browsing kids websites for the imminent arrival of baby no. 2.  Anyway, this one caught my eye – the Rock Star by Chalkals would be perfect for Master Four.  He would be beside himself with happiness if this arrived on his bedroom wall for his 5th birthday; (in-fact Mr Bohaute wouldn’t mind one for his office too!). It sticks on the wall and is re-positionable, plus it doesn’t ruin the paint work.  It costs US$65 (NZ$116 – a bit exey),  and Spunky Sprout ship internationally.

This shelf would look great in a kids room – imagine 3 or 4 scattered across one wall.  You could even use one as your landing pad/station for the phone, mail etc.  They don’t ship anywhere but the US, so for the DIYers perhaps you could make one from steel and have it powder-coated, or from ply and paint it with a high gloss colour of your choice.  The dimensions are 30″L x 12″H x 6″D and it even has an integrated hook at one end.  If you want one in the US then you can get it here for $54 – but not until 5th April.  

I just love this USB Tulip hub.  It’s so much better than the boring and functional ones messing up your desk. This would be a great little piece of art to brighten your day and your workstation.  That said, I can only find it at Fred Flare (US$22 – NZ$39) and they only ship to the US and Canada, unless you want to use a third party service.  Bummer – will keep you informed should I find it somewhere else that ships down-under.

Sooo, this is an uber home if ever I saw one.  Could you imagine waking up and making breakfast in that kitchen.  It’s…..so…..gorgeous, and that’s an understatement.  So the details:  Ultra mod with gorgeous views over KL, it was designed by YTL Design Group in KL and Agence Jouin Manku from Paris, for a wealthy Malaysian family.  

It started out in 2003 and finished in late 2008 – whoa, that’s a long time to wait for a house! The 3000sqm house – COUGH!) can accommodate both private and public functions.  So I guess while you are bathing the kids at one end, your husband could be entertaining royalty at the other. 

The building has nine bedrooms, two family rooms, a family kitchen and a private dining area, a family library, a game room, a study, a public reception area, a formal dining room, a ballroom, chapel, 21 bathrooms, a swimming pool, two guest suites plus indoor private and guest parking.  For more info and images of this wickedly stunning place, check them out here.

images [Roland Halbe]

via [LuxuryLaunches.com]

Great pillows really can give a tired room some much needed pizazz, and it’s such a small change.  Better yet, how about winning some! Matte Stephens is the artist behind these great pieces of fabric art.  My fave pillow I think has to be the line-up of buildings – it reminds me of my trip to London….wandering through Primrose Hill looking at all the joined together mansions.  Enter right here for your chance and if you are unlucky, then take a look at the groovy prints and paintings at his etsy shop.  Something for the wall might be even better for a little makeover!

image [Braniac]

Found these iPhone wallpapers over at The Paper Pony blog.  Aren’t they so pretty, and fresh.  You can download them here for free and better yet, they are Raya’s own pics – cool!  Only thing is, I cannot take the image off my phone yet of Master Four, Mr Bohaute and myself on New Years evening all having a hug at the beach on the most beautiful sunny, warm evening.

For those who need a great washer, plus a sink in one small item, this is perfect.  Like all Smeg gear, you seem to have to pay ‘coolness tax’, (usually much more than what other alternatives are), but they do look great. It comes in Blue, Cream and Pink.  Not sure if they ship to NZ; you could do a special order perhaps so here is a link to the specifications.  Wouldn’t it look great with the rest of their 50’s retro range that is available here in NZ.

I love a good gallery site, one that’s easy to use, has large photos and you can quickly update and add your own pics of anything architectural, housey, outdoorsey, etc.  At Houzz.com it’s a collection of the interior and exterior of places……have a browse over it – the site is clever, in that my thousands of inspirational home photos clogging my hard-drive can now be stored here, so I can access them when I am without my notebook. Others can add them to their gallery and we can all share the eye candy of all those lovely places in the world. Free to join, you can tag and make notes, and you can even subscribe to their RSS feed.

I have a thing for bookmarks.  My two are not surviving well as they are so loved – one being my son’s he made at Montessori and the other one from a great yoga centre I trained at in Vermont.  So, here are a few that would last the distance.  A stainless steel little family of four, they are AUD$35 each and you can get them online here from Nordic Fusion or go get them at their cool store in Manly or Mosman in Sydney.

If anyone is looking for a home in Paris in the lovely Marais district, then how about Christian Lacroix’s place. For sale for a cool NZ$5million, it has four bedrooms and a mezzanine library – and a courtyard garden. Actually if it came with the furniture, it would rock!  I love a house filled with colour – eclectic colour – I can’t go quite that far on my own – even though I want to.  To sit and have my croissant and hot chocolate for breakfast (I don’t do coffee) in front of those windows would be very agreeable.  Here is the real estate listing should you need to contact the seller (yay for you!).  Mr Lacroix will only be 200m down the road.  

The estate agent says this about the house “…the tall ceilings, elegant windows with shutters and panelled doors are straight out of an 18th-century French genre painting. A staircase with carved white banisters leads from the drawing room up to the bedrooms, which look out over the rooftops of Le Marais, and there’s an enclosed courtyard garden. How perfect in spring and summer to dine outside, or lie on a chair to work on your suntan.” – I want it even more now – hope it’s got central heating for winter.

via [Apartment Therapy]

I came across this handy stool over at AT, and thought it would be great for a kindergarten or daycare. Often they need all the space they can get and vertical storage is very clever, plus, because it stacks higher than other stools, it can make a myriad of different height huts to cover with blankets for all that fun they have while at kindy (is that too dangerous?? – ah blast).  The Australian designer behind these is Jon Goulder and he also does the matching table.  I am not sure where or if the Stak Stool or Stak Table is for sale, but found this site with a list of stockists who may be able to help with price and availability in Australia and Hong Kong.

images [jongoulder.com]

This has been around a while but I’ve only just discovered it.  The Dahlia light would just look magnificent on almost any wall – oh to have a cool US$3590 (yep, that’s NZ$7800) to pour into a light.  You can actually buy the cheaper and smaller version, at like NZ$1340 but it’s only 6 inches wide!  You can buy it in three sizes at FinnStyle and they ship internationally.   Should we just look at the photos again….ok, let’s just look.

via [Apartment Therapy]