Wednesday 29 December 2010

Christmas wrap up

Christmas for another year is done and dusted. Here is a little peek at the several Christmas celebrations that Ad and I had a wonderful time attending.

 
African Safari themed Christmas Eve party 
with family friends at my parents place.

 
Christmas lunch for 27 at my Grandparents place by the beach.

  
 
Christmas turkey lunch on Boxing Day at the in-laws.

Friday 24 December 2010

It's Christmas!

Wow time has flown by and despite being organised and having all my Christmas shopping done well in advanced the last couple of days have been a whirlwind!

Tonight is our big Christmas Eve party with friends. Each year we have a theme and this time it is African Safari. Lucky there has been a lot of leopard print in stores lately!

Have fun celebrating the festive season with your loved ones. Merry Christmas!

Thursday 9 December 2010

New lounge


Although my Husband and I don't have our own house to live in at the moment we have been on the hunt for a new bed. While looking for one at the Coco Republic sale a few weeks ago I found the perfect navy lounge. And bought it. So now we have three lounges and no bed! Ooops.

Monday 6 December 2010

Lawn bowls trophy


Our lawn bowling Christmas party went ahead on Friday as the weather miraculously cleared up. My team and I won a trophy, actually it was the 'Horses Arse' trophy which means that we were the best of the worst. Well it is still a trophy and I am very excited :)

Thursday 2 December 2010

Rain rain go away

Ethel Spowers  
Wet Afternoon  1929-1930
collection of the Art Gallery of New South Wales

My work Christmas party is tomorrow and I am looking forward to spending some time outside in the sunshine as we are going barefoot lawn bowling! But if this rain doesn't stop I think we'll be stuck inside :(

Monday 29 November 2010

A Fauvist

Henri Matisse  
Red fish 1912

This is one of my favourite paintings in the enitre world and it lives at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art in Moscow. I wish it could live at my place.

Friday 26 November 2010

Grasshopper Bar

On Wednesday night I headed into the city for a drink with some good friends. We found Grasshopper Bar tucked away in a Sydney laneway with a Melbourne vibe. A lovely bottle of french wine was ordered even though cocktails seem to be their forte. As it was bustling inside we perched ourselves on the milk crates outside (not very comfortable) and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and happy attentive staff.

From our position in the lane we had a fabulous view of Newell Harry's Circle/s in the round for (Miles and Miles + 1) which is a part of the City of Sydney's Laneway Art that is on display until the end of January 2011.

It was a lovely evening and next time I'll definitely be trying the restaurant's limited menu of French cuisine which smelt amazing!

Wednesday 24 November 2010

31 days till Christmas

I love Christmas time and still get excited when I wake up on Christmas morning. Here are a few things that I am wishing for....

Bearded man brooch (one that looks like Ad!) from
Handmade Romance on Etsy


 Happy rocking squirrels from Bride and Wolfe


 Spaces mook by Frankie Magazine
so I can peak into other peoples homes


Sally Seltman's CD 'Heart That's Pounding'



Vers 1.5 hand-crafted sound system for listening to tunes on my iPhone


Dorothy Napangardi
Salt 2007

Tuesday 23 November 2010

Art equation

Maybe it is because I have worked in an art gallery but I find this hilarious!
by Craig Damrauer via A Cup of Jo

Friday 19 November 2010

Movember

It's half way through Movember, the month that men are encouraged to grow a moustache to raise awareness about mens health issues including prostate cancer and depression. This fun initative started in Australia in 2003 and now engages men in showing their support by growing a mo globally.

My husband is participating and while I don't really like the tash look I am pleased that he is a part of this important fundraising program. Please visit the website to donate to Movember.

Monday 15 November 2010

Bookclub


I am a member of a bookclub that my sister, Tess started. We meet every month or so to chat about the book that we have read over a cup of tea or glass of champagne. I love that everyone can express their views about the literature in a casual and relaxed atmosphere.

We started off with some very harrowing classics such as Love in the Time of Cholera and Tender is the Night but are currently reading Danny the Champion of the World and Peter Pan which are heaps of fun! Do you have any book suggestions for my bookclub?

Friday 12 November 2010

Christmas shopping


I started my Christmas shopping this week as I stumbled across a beautiful shop, Magnolia Home & Gift at East Gosford on the Central Coast and picked up lots of goodies.

So this weekend I am going to continue to acquire gifts by visiting Magnolia Square markets at Randwick Racecourse. They have a fabulous range of independent design, art and fashion items that are perfect for pressies. Including the gorgeous homewares like the fun oversized button dishes by Have you met Miss Jones pictured above.  

I love buying presents for friends and family, it is a wonderful challenge to find something that is perfect for that special someone!

Wednesday 10 November 2010

My favourite Roman fountain


On our first day in Rome Ad took me on a tour of the city's beautiful piazza's. Most of them housed a fountain as its centre piece. My favourite fountain that we discovered was the Fountana di Quattro Fiumi or Founatin of Four Rivers, 1651 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

It depicts the four gods of what were considered the four great rivers of the world during the Reniassiance. The Nile in Africa, the Ganges in Asia, the Danube in Europe and the Río de la Plata in America. The movement in the figures, trees and animals is beautiful and powerful. The fountain has a  passionate and vibrant presence and when it is lit up at night and the water is shimmering it looks magical.

Tuesday 2 November 2010

150th Melbourne Cup Day

I love the excitement of Melbourne Cup Day, even though I am always at work  it is fun to dress up and go in the office sweep!

Today I am wearing a massive purple flower in my hair, a gorgeous floral silk blouse, black flippy skirt, fabulous purple stocking and patent black heels. Wish me luck in the sweep....

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Sarah Blasko

My husband and I are going to see Sarah Blasko on Friday night at The Enmore. I am very much looking forward to it even though we bought tickets very late and she will be a speck in the distance. We will both make sure we wear our glasses!

Monday 25 October 2010

Gorgeous fabric

I recentley visited Cloth where I fell in love with this fabric, 'stoney' and may recover a recent find in it.

Sunday 24 October 2010

My nephew



I have a beautiful new nephew. Well he is not so new any more as he is 10 weeks old!

Saturday 14 August 2010

My most memorable meal

Ad and I love to eat good food and had some amazing meals on our trip. Asparagus in Helsinki, Ravioli in Florence, Mexican in London and Dumplings we made in Mongolia. I may tell you all about them sometime. But my most memorable meal was on the train in Russia.


Wandering into the Kermit the frog green dining cart, we slid into a booth and ordered borsch. We had grown fond of borsch, the hot chunky beeroot and onion soup during our few days on the train had eaten it several times but this time it was a wonderful experience.



As we gazed out the window to the snow fluttered down outside while we drifted past the trees. The borsch was warming and satisfying, perfect for the Wintry weather.

Friday 13 August 2010

Brand new little boy

We were so lucky to be in the UK when Ruth and William's little boy arrived. I met Tobias when he was brand new, only one day old.


Then we popped back to see him when he was three and a half weeks old.


Finally we had to say goodbye and head home to Australia when Tobias was seven and a half weeks.


Isn't it amazing how babies change so quickly. I think he is so cute and I am glad to have spent this special time with the new family and hanging out with new mum, Ruth!

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal, Siberia was my unexpected favourite of our trip. We visited in April after it had recently snowed, such a treat for an Australian who has rarely seen snow. It was exceptionally cold (around 2°c) so we waddled around all wrapped up.


There was something magical about the vast expanse of frozen lake and the small town that was almost deserted.


The colourful wooden houses with beautifully carved window frames peaked out of the snow and stacks of wood were on standby to heat them.


We played in the snow and walked through the cold to visit The Baikal Museum and had a guided tour from an immaculate Russian woman who used a pointer to direct our attention to specimens in glass jars.


I explored a Russian graveyard where many seafaring folk and locals are buried. The colours were amazing against the stark white snow.


Apparently the area is very animated in Summer but we were so lucky to spend this quiet time in this special place.


This artwork gives some indication of the size of Lake Baikal. I would have love to have seen it happening.

Home.


Well we are home and didn't keep up with the blogging. So while we reflect on our trip over the coming months we'll post a few highlights....

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Chooo chooo

The first train trip was an epic adventure. Not only was it our first time sleeping on a train it also involved the border crossing from China to Mongolia as well as boogie changing.

We watched the landscape change as we chugged away from Beijing through industrial to isolated towns and spectacular mountains. Before we knew it night was upon us but we couldn't sleep yet as we had to go through immigration and customs for both countries.

The process was relatively painless although they do lock the trains bathrooms while the officals are on the train for about five hours. While our passports were being processed to leave China the train with us on it was taken to a workshop where each carriage was separated and lifted up into the air for new wheels to be placed under the carriages. A very long, involved and interesting procedure which we watched with fascination.

We got our passports back with all of the correct stamps and it was into Mongolia to go through the paperwork again. Sleep was at around 2am.

Changing China


I wasn't sure what to expect of China but Beijing was not what I had pictured. The Olympics last year may have had something to do with the rapid modernisation of the city. The traditional hutong neighbourhoods are diminishing and being replaced by ultra wide streets.
Climbing the Great Wall was amazing. It is vast which I didn't appreciate until I actually saw and walked on its stones!
We ate yummy dumplings and pastries for dinner and breakfast from the small local holes in the wall from the hutong behind our hotel.
Our visit to Tienanmen Square was complete with Chairman Mao's 5m high image watching over us.
The train journey begins tomorrow!