Friday, November 12, 2010

blue moods

Oh, this I need to see. I love Michelle Williams. LOVE. And Ryan Gosling? With what looks like scruffy hair and some kind of beardy growth, whew...

I may need to sit in a bucket of ice to avoid spontaneously combusting while I view it. Is that a service they offer at Gold Class cinema?

friday flowers from favourite places

I love this shot of my wee lassie in a garden down in the Southern Highlands. I'm pretty sure she was about six here - and very into striking a pose - bless her socks.

And look at those tulips... Sigh.

Busy day today. I'm catching up with a friend from real life who became a bloggy friend - Corinne from Daze of My Life {I know, it's normally the other way round isn't it!}. I'm finally over my illness so we're off to the beach for coffee, chatting and watching her gals play on the sand. Thankfully it's a beautiful day in Newcastle today - I hope the whales come out to play!

Then I'm taking my niece pressie shopping. She's 16 and I'm taking her to get something fabulous in the make-up department for her formal next week - one gorgeous lipstick, nail polish or eye shadow - and we'll probably play around with other stuff while we're there.

You?

Thursday, November 11, 2010

tea and crumpets perhaps?

I'm well and truly sick of being sick, but according to those who've already fallen prey to this bug I can expect a few more days of it.

Sigh.

So far today I've eaten two slices of white toast with vegemite. Same as yesterday. So I've asked my hubby to buy some crumpets for dinner tonight. When I'm no longer feeling poorly I'm going to follow this recipe and make me some crumpets. These look so plump and delicious that my store-bought versions are going to look like measly little flat things in comparison. But still, a crumpet's a crumpet - can't complain about that!

things that make me go woo

The Rachel Zoe Project was back on air last night, and oh, I missed my couture porn. The fashion was seriously to die for - especially in this Demi Moore shoot for Harper's. {The Louboutins!} And the Taylor intrigue - oooooooooh. She was always such a brat that I'm pleased to see she's getting her comeuppance {I've managed to use that word twice today - gee it's a word I love...} - nastiness never prevails, not even on Survivor {hear that Naonka?}.

Okay, that's it for me. I'm still poorly so I'm off to drink more water. Sigh.

Oooh, one thing. After watching Rachel Zoe last night I can't work out for the life of me how she could actually be pregnant. She seems even thinner again, surely well under the weight at which you can maintain periods and ovulation - how would a pregnancy be possible? But, then again, I still don't think she's properly confirmed {although apparently Pink and Carey Hart are having a wee bubba - that will be one rockin' babe!}

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

what's cooking wednesday

After a day of only white toast and vegemite I'm finally ready to think about food. Here's what's going down in our kitchen this week:
Tonight: um, vegemite on toast...
Thursday: Chicken Curry and rice
Friday: Lamb steak, green beans and crispy potatoes as seen on Nigella's Kitchen {the crispy potatoes are gnocchi fried in olive oil!}
Saturday: I'm going to trial something from the free-range pork options at Coles
Sunday: Roast chicken and roasted vegies
Monday: Mexican - perhaps fajitas {inspired by Nigella much?}
Tuesday: Veal scallopine, wilted, garlic spinach, mash

That'll do...

feeling poorly

I'm unwell. I seem to have succumbed to some kind of a bug that's determined to refuse to allow me to eat or feel vaguely human.

So I shall be resting, and waiting on my Dr in a top hat to prescribe some kind of remedy...

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

happy birthday!

One of the things I love the most about where I live would be these beautiful ocean baths. There's the big baths {apparently the largest ocean baths in the Southern Hemisphere} and the baby baths {still pretty damned big} - and it's their birthday. Woo hoo.

75 years old and still looking gorgeous, must be that weekly cleaning that does it. I love how there's always someone swimming, from the tenacious oldies who do their laps throughout winter, to the families who flock to the site in summer. I'm rarely brave enough to swim in the large swell our local beach produces, so the ocean baths give me that delicious salty water kick - without the fear factor or the crowds between the flags.

Gotta love a city that offers up something so beautiful.

Monday, November 08, 2010

tee hee

hello photoshop fairies

Unless Jessica Alba is wearing one of Mr Pearl's fabulous corsets I find it very hard to believe that her waist is just marginally wider than her thigh.

Jeez louise.

shoe boop be do

Monday? Really? Already? Wow, that weekend went by mighty quickly. Let's ease into the week with a seriously fierce pair of Jimmy Choo's shall we?

Sunday, November 07, 2010

sunshine always makes me smile

Oh, we have blue, blue skies today and these make me so happy. Yesterday's gardening was a great success, despite the drizzles. My dear husband spent the whole day pruning the lilly pillies and guess what we found? A dove nesting on three cute little eggs in the midst of the trees {that one didn't get so much of a prune...}. Bless!

I also managed to fit in a visit to the Olive Tree Markets down the street. Amazing. So many gorgeously crafted creations - including 50s style and pin-up-esque clothing and swimsuits. Squeee! I bought a pressie for a friend's new baby and plan on buying as many Christmas gifts for my nieces there as possible - you've got to support local creative types!

Today we have more gardening and a trip to the Farmer's Markets on the cards. Can we do turkish gozleme two days in a row for lunch? Um, yep, probably, it's damned addictive stuff.

I'd also like to spend a wee spot of time relaxing somewhere like this. Mmmmm.

Saturday, November 06, 2010

a sunny saturday

Shhhh, don't tell anyone but we currently have sunshine. I know! So we're about to dash into the garden to do some work while the sun shines. Hubby needs to prune the outrageous growth on the lilly pillies around the pool and I'll take bags of the trimmings to the green waste site to get mulched up. Then I'd like to weed the front gardens, after all that rain surely the weeds will almost leap into my hands...

Friday, November 05, 2010

what's that don draper?

friday flowers from faraway

Oh, c'mon, where's Spring? It's 15 degrees at the moment, a cold 15 degrees. It poured rain all night and it's all grey and soggy-looking again today.

So I thought I'd take myself {and you} back to a perfect spring in the South of France. It's hard to find anything that's not picture-perfect in France. Even in the ugly villages {yes, it's true, there are some ugly villages in France, just one or two} there are still window boxes overflowing with red and pink geraniums, roadside roses and those gorgeous shutters. And if there's a wall, chances are that there'll be a vine growing up it.

I love it how the French take every opportunity to make things special. Can you imagine a French family bolting down dinner in front of the telly? {Sure, maybe they do - but boy, it'd be a secret}. No, instead meals are to be celebrated. Foods are prepared with love, and eaten with pleasure.

And homes are to be decorated with love, and lots of flowers.

Sounds like the right idea to me...

Thursday, November 04, 2010

serendipitous shopping

For my gal's ballet concert this year she has to supply one costume: a 30s-orphanage-esque outfit for a performance of Annie. So straight after school yesterday we hit the Salvos. And paydirt. We found the most divine gunmetal grey dress, that when accessorised with torn stockings and falling down socks will look perfect - but will also look fab afterwards accessorised with tights and cute beads. For $5! Then, in the same section we found a gorgeous Industrie sunfrock, white with stripes of pink and orange - again $5. Standing at the register waiting to pay my head swiveled around behind me until my little eye happened to spy - a set of Boules! In a box! Pristine!!

I snavelled them up and the girl behind the counter delightedly said, "Oooh, you're buying these". Apparently she'd only put them out mere minutes before. Destiny? I think so.

I know what we're doing this summer - picnics and petanque tournaments. Oh yeah!

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

lanvin for h&m

Why don't I live in London near an H&M store where I could buy me some of the Lanvin for H&M?

WHY?

what's cooking wednesday

Okay, well as discussed yesterday, this week's meal planning is involving something different. Yep, now with more veg. Last night I started off the week with a couscous, roasted veg and chickpea salad {thanks Joanna!} served alongside our lamb steaks. Hello, did someone say delicious... Here's what we're eating this week:

Wednesday: Tonight I'm in the mood for a corn, avocado, baby tomato salsa salad. So what goes with that? Let's say pan roasted snapper fillets. Sound okay?
Thursday: French lessons = early dinner. Spaghetti bolognaise, easypeasy.
Friday: BBQ! I want to do some chilli lime squid and maybe garlic prawns. I think I'll serve these with a fennel and grapefruit salad, potato salad with chorizo and a big green salad.
Saturday: We've got so much gardening work to catch up on after last month's entertaining, golfing and visiting - so an easy dinner will be best. Chicken curry in the slow cooker, wilted greens {spinach, broccolini and peas with garlic and a wee smidgen of dried chilli flakes} and a rice pilaf {Indian-style} with plenty of veg to jazz it up.
Sunday: Roast dinner. Let's hope the markets are on. I'm feeling the need for roast beef, roasted beetroot, roasted carrots and a pea puree.
Monday: Twilight netball. Pork cutlets, with a waldorf style salad {baby spinach, red apple slices, walnuts, red onions and a mint and yoghurt dressing} and some beetroot and sweet potato chips that I'll roast in the oven.
Tuesday: Ballet night. Salmon patties, "coleslaw" {thinly sliced dark green cabbage, grated carrot, grated beetroot, thinly sliced spinach, thinly sliced radish, thinly sliced spanish onion, thinly sliced yellow capsicum and slivered almonds in a lemon and yoghurt dressing} and "potato salad" {roasted chat potatoes with a garlic, lemon and olive oil dressing}.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

take 5

Honestly, how good are you at the five a day thing? You know, five serves of veg, and two of fruit? Do you manage it? I'm always struggling to find new and improved ways to boost our fruit and veg intake - but am always pushing the vege-phobes in my family to consume what I've prepared.

So I'm looking for some new side-serve options. I know the veg should take up half my plate, so I'm going to make it as gorgeously edible as possible. I went to a new cafe on Saturday and was very impressed with a salsa salad they'd made. Baby rocket {normally the bane of my life as it's often a dry, teetering pile of the stuff that just gets caught in my teeth}, roasted fresh corn kernals, an avocado 'dressing', little orange tomatoes and wafer-thin slices of red onion. Perfection. Almost all the colours of the vegie rainbow were represented, and oh, did it taste delicious.

That's my new aim. Something new, something vibrant and something tasty served up with each meal. I'm going to copy their salad tonight - but for the rest of the week? Well, stay tuned for my menu posting tomorrow - there will be innovation and inventiveness. Wish me luck.

dark desires

Last night I finally fell prey to my curiosity and watched Dating In The Dark. Have you seen it? The premise is that six singles, three guys, three girls, hole up in a mansion and only get to meet each other in complete darkness. They chat, they flirt, they kiss, they snuggle - in the dark. There's a psychological profiler who assesses each character and ultimately they get matched up with someone and they can finally 'see' each other.

You know where this is going don't you? Last night the obnoxious, angry girl with great hair but little else to sell her was mouthing "Please be hot, please be hot" before her guy was revealed. Was he hot? He was not. He looked nice, he seemed lovely, in the dark they bonded, she liked the way he kissed, but in the end she left him on the balcony while she walked out the door with bags packed.

Devastating. This show is the ultimate in rejection, "Hey, I like you in the dark, but in the light - hell no". I'm surprised more episodes don't end with participants attempting to plunge from the balcony.

It's hideous, but it also reveals why so many of these people are single. They're waiting for the spark, the fire, the butterflies - all perfect harbingers of lust, but love, maybe not so much. Sure, you want the attraction, the 'cor, cute butt'. Do you get that in 30 seconds? Hardly. And if you do, does that last? Hopefully these people will watch the show and see what they've missed out on. Then they might realise that if they truly are after a relationship that'll last long after the cute hair has receded, that tight bod has loosened, looking a little deeper may be the only option.


Monday, November 01, 2010

seriously spooky





Here are a few of my favourite things from last night's Halloween. First of all, the houses that got into the decorating - including my number one pick with graves, ghosts, scaredy cats, massive spiders and webs. It's also the house that had the guy in the freaky mask and costume leap out in a spooky manner. He was really into it, not surprising as he was originally from Colarado {and apparently delighted that we're now doing Halloween down under!}. The goth couple around the corner had the coolest lollies {body parts, coffins, brain poppers...} and I love these wee ghosties in the frangipani. At the bottom are my cupcakes - black icing and wee ghosties floating in the night sky. Went down a treat they did.

A Happy Halloween indeed.