Strawberries & Cream

Random photos. Strawberries & cream roses, latte time at Ruby's diner in Bronte and the arrival of my book from UGUiSU so amazingly wrapped (check out the blog here).

Naked Devotee

I had a little time to myself on the weekend as Mr was working on sacred Saturday and I was blissfully left to my own devices. Sitting in Piccolo after a 10.30am sleep in, I read the local papers, drank lattes and came across Naked, THE city guide for the Gold Coast.

The remainder of the afternoon was hence spent ploughing through the glitz of the GC with the guidance of Naked to discover the many cultural, arty, creative gems that unbeknownst to Mr, (creature of habit) even existed. Vintage Espresso was absolutely adorable, I am going back camera in hand to ask permission to take some pics and to do the place justice. Worth the trip alone is an afternoon sitting here. GC here I come.

Artwork by Kareena Zerefos via Karen. All others from Naked.

Blue Mountains on A Rainy Day

I spent the weekend in Mudgee (country NSW) a land of rolling green hills wearing uniforms of vines and trees of olives backed by rugged mountains. We finally stopped for lunch after getting lost in the rain for an hour trying to find the restaurant (which funnily enough is named Solitary) because we packed and took off without a single map or address. Plain arrogance I think it was. There we were, thinking we were going to quiet country towns and assuming the places we were headed should be obvious because, well, surely there was little else around. Wrong on the lunch front and wrong again when we tried to find the guest house. We did our research on the scene of the ceremony though because we didn't want to miss a minute - when I show you the wedding, you'll understand why.

Eis...

It's German for ice cream. We first thought every cafe was called 'Eis' until we figured out the little flag hanging out the front of cafes meant there was ice cream to be found inside. So this cafe is Napoljonska Bakery in Berlin, and yes, its sells eis. So pretty and pastel, inside and out.

Earthy

After a few too many drinks the night before I crave wholesome food the morning after. Even though I have a tonne of cute cafes on my doorstep, sometimes I head a little further away to Wholefoods House. Sunday was a 'soft clothes' day due to my fragile state and recovery began with a latte while devouring the pages of Vogue Living and a wholemeal spiced pear spelt muffin followed by another latte. Ah, better.

Bali Cafe

I just flicked through my current journal, the one I take with me when I go anywhere I think I'll have time to write. Lately its been coming home with the same amount of blank pages as before I left. Why? If I love anything at all besides colour and family - its WORDS. Although I wish so badly that I could speak 10 languages, I feel blessed that I speak...know...feel the English language so fluently that I can play with the words: twist them; shape them in my mouth and spit them out with a certain spin; make them hilarious and witty and clever. Form them in such a way as to use them as a weapon or create the most powerful tool of all - pure expression - the ability to articulate a feeling, a frustration, a tenderness and use them to bind, to bond, to repair. I think of words as being such a large part of my life, but tonight a beribboned business card from a far away place fell from my journal and I realised I haven't written for 18 months. I haven't dear diary'd since Jan '08 - since I was in my (very late) 20's. Ordinarily travelling fuels my urge to write and words spill from pen to page. A year ago now, I went away for my 30th with my favourite people in the world. We stayed in the most incredible villa with the sweetest people looking after us who made most amazing home cooked meals. Still, I had no words (in any language). I came home with a Bali Cafe business card having written only this: "I wake with a headache and it stays with me all day until I take two smooth pills and it slips from my mind." I need to rediscover my soul. Stay tuned. Big changes are ahead. I'll know whether I've made the right decision if it sees me writing again.

Images by me except for images of pink wall & chair which is by Brie.