Thursday, April 25, 2013



this week I finished a new video about a small town that's taken on an art project with gusto and feasted on hazelnut cookies, leftover easter eggs and tea before bed each night.

I'm off to sydney again next week and will spend a fortnight in the city working on a radio project with two of my favourite workmates. I am excited about the trip, the project and knowing that I'll have two solid weeks with my family but I will miss tony and my home.

this weekend I have one very small goal and it's to eat donuts in the park with coffee while it's still warm enough to be outside. a small but achievable goal!

Saturday, April 20, 2013






a much needed weekend at home.
1. our very own autumn tree
2. sunday brunch at home, egg rolls and fancy asparagus leftover from a dinner party
3. his & hers cookbooks. I have hazelnut cookie dough in the fridge, tony's making fetta for the first time.
4 & 5. some awesome homegrown gifts from friends
6. leftovers for lunch

not pictured, a lovely breakfast picnic with some friends with pastries and the autumn sun. we also hosted the second cookbook club dinner, we chose what katie ate as our book and served up handmade pumpkin, pecan and sage ravioli for mains.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013



pretty city things.

1. lunchtime at balmoral beach, taken after I accidentally locked myself out of tony's parent's apartment. thankfully it was a nice place to kill some time.

2. every kind of greeting card you can imagine. I bought cards from kiki k, paper 2, the art gallery of nsw, kinokuniya, basically anywhere I could, sydney has a lot of pretty stationary to offer.

3. a lovely lunch from brown rice sushi in double bay. while I may not feel my most comfortable self in double bay, the food is worth it. during our stay I had japanese 3 times, woohoo!

and not pictured, a sneaky doorstep present we left at my uncle's house. leaving surprise gifts on people's doorsteps makes me really happy. this time, the front door was open so instead of gifting and running, we knocked on the door and had a nice chat too.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

the best ever birthday cake. our final night in sydney was spent celebrating my dad's 60th birthday, a week in advance of the actual event. much planning had gone into the night, I'd hatched a plan with one of my brothers late last year to organise a banquet for my dad at mr wong's. many emails were exchanged and budgets were made before we finally booked.

and then came the hunt for the perfect cake. in the end I ordered a pavlova, my dad's favourite, from black star pastry. it looked so amazing and I held onto so carefully until it reached my brother's place. it was pretty much intact when it came time to sing happy birthday and the cake was a hit. 

we had such a good night, everyone was dressed up and in good spirits and we found ourselves in a private little room at the restaurant. my teenage brother declared that it was his most favourite restaurant and when we weren't eating, we busied ourselves taking photos of each other and our surroundings. after a prolonged and confronting period of sadness and loss, it was great to have been able to celebrate something together. losing my aunt has certainly changed us, we're a lot more thankful and aware of our surroundings now and we say 'I love you' to each other more readily. 

we're back home now, and our fridge is slowly filling up. we're loving being back in our own space in our own town where things are a lot less frantic and busy. I can't wait to make some more bread this weekend.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

city days. our days in sydney have be super full, hanging out with family, visiting a couple of exhibitions and eating really well.

the service for my aunt on monday went really well. it was a sad day but I smiled and laughed a lot too, as I listened to some of the speeches and tributes at her wake that illuminated so many different aspects of her life. I even braved the crowd to say a few words. the chapel was packed, and many people had to stand for the whole service. seeing so many people was really heartening. 

I feel like I've learnt a lot about love these last few weeks and months. the passing of my aunt has inadvertently shone a light on the amazing support networks that stand behind each person in my family. on monday, my dad's boss came to the service, as did tony's father, to show their support. and the day after the funeral, one of my best friends made a point of bringing around her new baby to meet my mum as a way of cheering her up. the night before the service, I'd asked my cousin whether any of his school friends would need help getting to and from the service, only to find out that his school had organised a bus. what an incredible world we live in. 

here's my lunch from today, a very decadent penne carbonara from the art gallery cafe. emphasis on the carb. I think I felt dizzy from salt, cream and starch for a few hours afterwards but it was worth it. the weather was beautiful today and we caught up with my cousin and uncle to see art express at the art gallery of nsw, along with the archibald prize. my cousin is in his final year of school and is studying art and tony's been helping him from time to time with the development of his major work. so our visit was a good excuse to go check out last year's hsc exhibition.

I haven't seen art express for about 5 years and found this year's exhibition especially sophisticated and engaging. here's a knitted owl head from one of the works.



later this afternoon, we walked through the botanical gardens to check out the 13 rooms installation, which is made of up 13 individual rooms of performance art. I had mixed feelings about the show, but I did like this recreation of one of damien hirst's works.

only a few days left in our sydney stay and still lots lots more to do.

hope you're having a good week.

Sunday, April 7, 2013










we set off early on sunday morning and were on the road by 6.30am. by lunchtime, we'd reached my parents place. it's nice to be back in sydney. yesterday we managed two delicious home cooked meals, a trip to our favourite book, DVD and stationary shops and took my little (yet 6 ft) brother out for gelato.






I've learnt that my dad's pet bird will tweet her version of 'thank you', every time you move her cage. I've also heard lots of really lovely stories about my aunt.

we say goodbye to her today, and then we have a few more days planned with the family, which I'm really looking forward to.