piss off spring

I was so happy to wake up and realise that Spring was not here and that it was definitely still winter this morniing. My optimum performance temperature range is between 12 – 20 degrees. I really am opposed to anything above tights and blazer weather. As my friend Jess once said, “Summer is for dorks!" Here I am with my new Tristan Blair shoes enjoying the chilly weather.

I’m also happy because I recently bought myself some new Fleur Wood trackies. I still really like this look from Isabel Marant that I saw on Garance Dore. Winter will need to stick around a little longer so I can try it out.

On the weekend I bought a blackboard to help keep things in check.

I’ve added eyelashes, shopping list and some of my favourite lyrics from The National “I was afraid I'd eat your brains, ‘Cause I’m evil.” The National are in my top 5 albums of this year.

P.S. I had a superior bloody mary from Yellow Bird on Chapel St on Sunday. Sunday bloody mary Sunday.

the deus

I didn’t know much about the beer DeuS Les Brut de Flanders except that it was Belgian and cost $65 a bottle. Recently, the wholesalers have dropped their prices so it’s now $40 a pop. And pop it does! I had my first taste today and looked incredulously at Chris and said “But it tastes like Champagne!” and so maybe I have found my perfect beer. Is it a session beer? Yes! If only I could just afford it.

The beer is brewed in Belgium and then shipped off to the underground caves of Epernay in the French region of Champagne. This is where the riddling process begins and I guess where the Champagney taste comes from.

I was in Champagne earlier this year and was completely entranced by all these underground tunnels filled with champagne. I also found it pretty amazing that people were drinking Champagne before Australia was even put on the map. Here is me on the Avenue de Champagne in Epernay.

We visited most of the grand old champagne houses in Epernay, worshipped at the altar of monk Dom and visited Madame Veuve Clicquot in Reims. My birth year is a Veuve vintage.

My mother kept saying “What if someone bombed these caves! They’d be no champagne for years!" Oy vey, to live in a world without champagne and beer that tastes like champagne.

hola! spanish galleon

As you all know I’m not afraid of a mid week bloody mary but you should have seen me umm’ing and ahh’ing over whether to get the Spanish Galleon or the plain old Galleon. The plain old Galleon ain’t so plain as it is made with clamato juice which I was told was made from the juice of clams and tomatoes*. I was only just talking about this drink on Sunday night and was told that even though all instincts say no you should say yes to a clamato juiced drink. I still couldn’t and went with what I know.

The Spanish Galleon (from The Galleon) came with decently spiced (althought one would thought it would be more fiery being Spanish and all) and two meaty olives. Also, I think this must have to be one of the prettiest stalks of celery I’ve ever seen. I’m a sucker for symmetry.

On the way home I picked a flower for my mini presse fleur which was a lovely little present from Lulu.

Let’s wait and see what happens. This is a four leaf clover from Venice that lives in my wallet. Manna (my sister) has a knack for finding them. She says that the Leprechauns lead her to them by popping into her peripheral vision and then popping out again, where she has ‘seen’ them she finds a four leaf clover!

*I’ve conducted further research (used wiki and not just info from a friend in a pub) Clamato juice is made of tomato juice and is flavoured with spices and clam broth. It doesn’t sound so bad now.

festiveness

I’ve been on the Gold Coast for the last few days celebrating my folks’ birthdays. It was a lot of fun, even Sparticus got in on the festivities and donned a bow. I've always said blue is his colour.

My hangover was not so festive so I worked on it the best way I know how and filled myself with hot chips, bloody marys and dark glasses. The sunnies are RetroSuperFutures and I got them in Slovenia half price. I love a sale almost as much as I love a good bloody mary. Our hangover afternoon tea was at the Ferry Road Markets which are just like the James St Markets in Brisbane but better in my opinion.

I bought myself a new cushion. As you can see it has a deer on it. You can buy them here but I got mine when I was out shopping for my dad’s present. I got him a flying pig from Africa for the garden.

The cushion and I made it home ok and now I have unpacked, hung out with the kittens and bought flowers for the house. Daffodils are the happiest flowers.

Like the chick on the ashtray I am too young to die so I bought lots of fruit and vegies to help undo what I did to myself over the weekend.

hunting for george

One of my oldest and dearest friends (well, she actually used to chase me around the schoolyard pushing me into bushes but I don’t hold that against her) is starting up an online shop with her sister.

I lucky enough to have a sneak peak at some of the merchandise and ended up walking out the door with my very own purchase. This cardigan comes all the way from Canada, it's very pretty ay.

I’m wearing it with my LIFEwithBIRD dress and Wittner boots.

These sisters of HUNTING FOR GEORGE are very clever and have chosen some really beautiful jewellery, scarves, tea towels, prints and lots of lovely little gifts. I know where I'll be shopping for birthdays and Hanukkahs. I’ll let you know when they’ve officially opened their online store doors.

do or diorama

I really enjoyed making dioramas when I was in junior school. I remember I made one about an explorer and a penguin once, it was really quite good. On Brunswick Street I noticed this amazing one. I'd love to know what this store is about but it was closed and the signage gave no clue.

Later, I saw this one at Little Creatures Brewery.

My sister and I have been eyeing off the Little Creatures sausage sizzle for ages and finally succumbed to the spitting, sizzling, sausagey goodness. We ordered both the pork and lamb and piled them high with sauerkraut, tomato sauce and cut them in half so we could have a taste of both. I think we liked the lamb one best but who knows after we downed our bottle of Prosecco.

I bought a horse. I think he’s very handsome and has such a well muscled flank.

I wore this Karen Walker rams head tee (more Kazza!), White Suede jacket, Cotton On skirt and Target beanie.

what a corker

Years ago I got my hands on everything and anything Karen Walker – suits, dresses, knits, skirts, tops – you name it I coveted it. There’s only a few bits and pieces which have survived today, like the blue t-shirt below. I also have the peach scarecrow t-shirt from that same collection.

This is me in Bali last year with one of my favourite drinks. I lived on this Nescafe milk in a can thing and Padang food. Padang is kind of like the local take away which comes wrapped up in a paper bag and you get things like rice, beans, potato cakes, beef rendang, curries etc. A lot of people have a thing against Kuta but I love it.

Anyway, back to the clothes. I bought this Karen Walker dress on Saturday. It looks a lot like a Cacharel sailor outfit I had when I was little.

The sleeves are all puffed up and yep, that’s a Karen Walker carousel horse I’m wearing around my neck. I don’t take it off.

I actually kind of dig it with this Zara jacket too. These shoes completed my sailor outfit.

st kilda, i love you

I never thought I’d live in St Kilda, I thought it was the Gold Coast of Melbourne with its beach and its tourist population. It’s different actually living here amongst the young families, prostitutes, backpackers and crack heads. I work from home and am often entertained by the passing parade outside my window, one old man likes to wear a suit jacket with tails and sings as he walks.

My street is well populated by cats, I think every house must have one. This is the orange cat that lives next door to us. He always sits in very weird places.

I live minutes from the St Kilda Botanical Gardens which I think are much prettier than the Royal ones. I love the rose garden, the locals who play chess in the afternoon and the 70’s playground which hasn’t been modernised and still has lots of monkey bars and concrete. In Summer I like to take my book to the park and read.

Recently a little walk way was added down near the bay. Look how the council has matched the pathway to the water. It's really lovely attention to detail.

I also love the way that people chuck out their old couches, TVs, books, home wares onto the streetand 5 minutes later someone else has picked it up and taken it home. One man’s trash etc. My neighbours threw out this painting the other morning.

I think people on from the other side of the river often forget about us over here. I've lived in Carlton and I love cobblestone streets and discreet alley ways but there just seems to be more space over here which is something I think I need.

Tonight I’m having a date at home with myself. Quiet night in as I’m doing a cocktail degustation tomorrow night, can you imagine the hangover? I have flowers and my favourite candle lit.

I ate dates (like, the actual fruit) and drank this Patron XO Cafe which is a coffee liqueur made with TEQUILA! It's like a compact Espresso Martini. That’s my black cat from Chapel Street Bazaar, don’t they have similar figures?

I watched Bram Stoker’s Dracula which is ok for a vampire flick but it has nothing on original Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

This inspired me to paint my toenails a suitably gothic rainbow of Chanel Rouge Noir and O.P.I Black Onyx.

There are no pictures as feet are just gross. Night!

the galleon

The Smoky Bacon Bloody Mary from The St Kilda Galleon Cafe is pretty bloody amazing and weirdly delicious. The rim of the glass is seasoned with salt and pepper (I think), the tomato juice is spiced with a good amount of Tabasco and then you have the smoky bacon flavour. It’s bacon in a glass and it leaves you with an aftertaste of old school cheese and bacon balls without the cheesey yellow dust on your fingertips. It would be so cool if the celery stalk was substituted with a maple glazed, crispy bacon strip. Or would that be going too far?

The Galleon is a bit of an institution as you can see from the line up every sun shiney Sunday and any other day really. We were lucky to get a table without having to wait, if we’d been another 5 minutes later it would have been a whole different story. Chris swears by the Eggs Benedict so he had them and I had a half serve of poached eggs on multigrain. I was busted eyeing off the guy at the next tables Bubble n Squeak which reminds me of one of my favourite childhood movies Bed Knobs and Broomsticks.

I love the laminex tables and the service is really friendly. Check them out at 9 Carlise Street.

black shoe shuffle

My faithful sequin sneakers have fallen apart, my black converse give me blisters and I find my French Sole flats a bit twee so I've been without a flat, black shoe now for a week. My sister has graciously lent me her Melissa for Vivienne Westwood gumboots. I usually hate those plastic Melissa shoes (the ones with the love hearts make me especially angry) but they seem much more practical in a gumboot. I could put them to good use yesterday!

There was a poem I learnt when I was little and it was about a little boy who hates socks, one line went “And then I put my long boots on and play out in the rain.” So I took the kids advice and frolicked in some puddles. The only problem with these booties is that they are only ankle height so you get rebound splash.

signs

I’ve been seeing signs everywhere. Like this one on the side of a van next to the bay.

And this one. I have no idea what it's advertising but I like it.

There is also this one outside of Monarch Cake Shop.

I decided I should listen to this sign. I was also keen as a friend of my parents had told me that I had to try to Kooglehoupf at Monarch Cake Shop on Acland Street. When I heard the name Kooglehoupf it conjured up the image of cinnamony, fruity, christmas-like cake but to my absolute delight it was “like a chocolate croissant but SO MUCH BETTER,” according to the girl behind the counter.

The chocolate inside is quite bitter, like dark chocolate so I think if I just had a glass of red wine to go with it I would be on my way to antioxidant heaven.

I always think the cakes in these shops look impessive but don't taste delicious. This one did, the signs led me to it and it was fate. Maybe Monarchh Cake Shop is just better than the rest? Do you have a favourite?

patience is its own reward

Patience is something I lack. It's probably not something a cook should be missing. I cook on the highest temperatures possible and use the microwave to speed things up a fair bit. So I thought with my lazy Sunday I'd try something new and slow cook. I'm trying Terry Durack's Red lamb shank curry with coconut. I added a few additions like green beans and bean shoots.

While it was cooking very, very slowly I drank this wine. I gave up drinking Sav Blanc earlier this year but this is really nice and interesting. The website tells me it has passionfruit and melon aromas.

And read Melina Marchetta's The Piper's Son and cuddled my bear, Joshua. Yes, I'm 26 and still read teen literature and have a teddy bear.

I am so glad I was patient.

off and racing

On Saturday I went to Racing Rewards Raceday at Flemington. It was such a beautiful day which started with a cocktail party at 11am, then High Tea with a few punts in between.

I didn't have any success on the horsies but I did manage to eat a lot of pastry and drink a lot of champagne. The lack of chicken sandwiches was only a little disappointing.

I love everything about the races - horses, betting, headwear, champagne! The last time I went I met Takeover Target and then was stuck in a 10 x 10 marquee next to the track when that freak hail storm hit in March. It was quite entertaining (actually, my favourite raceday ever) but for a brief few seconds I thought we all might die.

I bought this new hat as I thought it was quite suitable for winter racing. I think it also goes well with my The Who poster.