Monday, July 21, 2014

The adventures of Neil

On Sunday night, I snapped this silly photo of Neil - a pom pom with eyes - out on the town and sent it to my sister, who'd given me the pom pom creature earlier that day. After a jam packed day of hanging out with friends and family, we snuck over the Spit bridge to Manly, to check out Papi Chulo.

It was probably a bit bold to book dinner at a BBQ joint immediately after attending a baby shower BBQ but we were determined. We shared a spicy fish burger (by the sea!), some smokey lamb ribs which were deliciously sticky, and at the recommendation of Lee Tran Lam, we ordered the roast cauliflower with mounds of parmesan and a tangy red sauce.

But we're getting off topic, back to Neil. I spied the pom pom creature sitting on a bookshelf at my sister's place, and after admiring it multiple times, Carla decided I should take it home. She'd made and named Neil while she was babysitting for a friend, and attempting some craft with her two young charges.

We were over for a scone breakfast (mini scones!), and to play with niece who is growing up so quickly.

Aunty Nya Nya's phone case is surprise hit with this one.

Here's Neil getting his caffeine hit before we headed home. Two photos makes a series, right? And soon I was looking for new locations to snap a photo of Neil so I could send my sister a running photo diary. 

I recently order Lee Tran Lam's Sydney food zine and kept it in my bag for our weekend visit. It was so handy - it's arranged in suburbs so after we decided to make an impromptu visit to Surry Hills to look at stationary and CDs, I found us a cafe for breakfast. Here's my delicious shroom bun from Cowbell808, it was so good!

I texted my Carla this pic from Sutton Forest, our designated driver change over spot. No cheeseburgers or fries were eaten (here's why).










And then a lunch stop, some pretty views before we finally made it home. That marked the end of my silly day-and-a-half Amelie inspired project.

Monday, July 7, 2014

A plane, a niece and some serious cake planning


Hello, get ready for lots of photos! We've just come back from a week in Sydney. Tony actually went ahead of me to enter a few paintings into prizes. We'd strategically timed our mini break so that we could go to a fancy wedding tasting and do some wedding planning - we have less than 2 months to go! 

On my first full day in town, we managed a very late lunch at Pinbone, which I have been dying to try. At 2pm it was nice and quiet, and we sat upstairs and shared a chicken burger that was accompanied by a generous mass of delicious salty fries. Sharing meals means you get to eat more often and at different places = win!

My favourite thing to do in Sydney is visit my sister and her gorgeous baby. My niece is going to be a month shy of 1 at the wedding, so we've been bold and asked her to be the flowergirl. It's been really fun shopping for her outfit! My sister-in-law helped me pick out some silly cat shoes and cardigan for her. I spent two full days with my sister, brother-in-law and their little girl. We went to the park, caught up with our grandparents at a nearby cafe and ate cupcakes while the little one napped.


This is my favourite photo from the whole week! My niece has so many kisses for her mum. She also started saying Nya Nya last week, which I'm told is a new thing. It was promptly decided that she was saying Sonya! She did say it a lot when I was around, and I am very happy to be Aunty Nya Nya. My sister reckons it's her third word, after Mama and Dada. Aunty success!

We had a very important cake meeting on Thursday morning. It was very exciting. There are going to be many cakes that look pretty inside and out.


A long lunch in Rosbery with Tony and my friend Sean. We originally tried to go to the Grounds of Alexandria but were scared off by the traffic and super long line. We ate at Kitchen By Mike instead and it was so yummy! Everyone had pine-lime sodas from tiny bottles and I had a delicious beef massaman curry with saffron rice and salad. 

This was an epic eating day, being our last full day in town. There are pancakes under all of that sauce! 


Cake at Flour and Stone! A note for young players - you can actually pre-order their lamingtons, even in small quantities. We did not know this and the famous lamos were sold out by the time we got there. And because we were staying with Tony's parents in Mosman, we made a stop at our favourite cupcake shop, which happens to be just around the corner from their house. Hurray!


A movie at the Hayden Oppheum picture palace on our last night - we watched The Trip in Italy and I loved the art deco cinema, and the attendants who wore black bow-ties and burgundy vests.




A lucky last cooked brekkie before the long drive home. I jumped out at the Jugiong scenic lookout to snap this photo - it was so cold that Tony stayed in the car.


And two more photos with my favourite girls. Look at that little smile! Melts my heart.

Hope you're well!

S