Sydney - making a list

This weekend my husband and I will be heading up to Sydney - we're meeting three other couples up there for a long weekend of child-free fun & frivolity. None of us actually live in Sydney, we just happen to be congregating there. Every ANZAC day weekend we get together in either Melbourne, Sydney or Brisbane. We've been doing this for years - the four boys joined the army together when they were 16 and served in the UN peacekeeping force in Namibia and have remained good friends for over 25 years even though none of them are still in the army and they now live in different states. So, we're really looking forward to catching up with our good friends.

I'm also looking forward to checking out the Archibald Prize portraiture exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW...

Image from Art Gallery of NSW

This is a portrait of musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu painted by Guy Maestri. It is the winning portrait for the 2009 Archibald Prize. Can't wait to see it (and the other finalists) first hand.

I'm also making a list of some of my favourite Sydney shops that I want to check out while I'm there...

Ici Et La for fabric and French vintage...

Image from Urban Walkabout

Edit for interesting one-off pieces...

Image from Edit


Image from Edit

Cooking marvel Donna Hay's new homewares store...

Images from Donna Hay

Check out the great interview and fabulous pics of Donna's new store over at Far Out Brussels Sprout. It's got me itching to check out the shop!

The Society Inc for its general loveliness - you never know what you'll find when you step inside (oh how I wish they'd get their website up & running - it's been under construction for so long)...

Image from The Society Inc.

You can also read a recent post about this lovely shop at the fabulous blog The Design Files right here.

Parterre - I simply swoon and lust after everything whenever I visit this amazing store (make sure you check out their website - there are some amazing pieces)...

Image from Parterre

No Chintz - I need some fabric for my new bedroom window seat and I just know that I'll find exactly what I want right here...

Image from No Chintz

If you're a Sydneysider, do you know of any furniture and homewares shops that are really worth visiting?