My favourite Airbnb stay so far

We had a few days in Sydney last week, after our hens and bucks party dos (more on that later) and decided to book somewhere new and nice to stay. Because it was nearly my birthday, I got to choose the place, and luckily this loft that I've been eyeballing for about a year was available!

It had a loft bed, and I shot this sneaky photo of the cute pillowcases while Tony slept.

So aside from the way the studio looked (I reckon the host screenprinted all of the 'hello' tea towels and pillowcases. She also had a yellow wire 'hello' sign that was very cute, it hung about the breakfast nook), I'd read in many reviews that there were homemade baked goods on arrival. Other reviews mentioned hot jam donuts that had been bought for them.

I'd mentioned in my request that we were in town for some birthday celebrations for me - and when we arrived, Cath, our host, casually mentioned that she'd made me a cake! Here it is! It was so delicious - it was a white chocolate mudcake with white chocolate ganache. She also made us a sourdough and there were fresh eggs from the hens we'd spied on our way in.

Usually cake for breakfast is a day-after birthday thing, but I got started a bit early this year, with a tiny slice each morning :) 

I also packed some up (lollybag style wrapped in napkins and a paper bag) for my friends who I was meeting for a special lunch. The three of us met through work and live in different regional towns in NSW. We're celebrating our 30th, 40th and 50th years so decided on a 30/40/50 long lunch on the one week we could all be in town. We went to Bread & Circus in Alexandria, arriving right as lunch service was starting and not saying goodbye until the kitchen had closed. Many salads and sides were eaten, and many more presents exchanged.

Baby Bryn was our special guest, and he was a few weeks shy of 6 months. I think he went home with the most presents! He was very smiley and showed up wearing a jumper I'd found for him in the mountains over Easter, which was exciting.

I've been wanting to go and see 20 Questions at the Belvoir Theatre ever since I heard about it, and luckily, the closing night coincided with our visit. So we splashed out and bought 3 tickets as part of my birthday treat and took along my cousin Max who had just moved back to Sydney. The show itself was fantastic, and actually featured 345 rapid fire questions rather than the mere 20 I expected. There were 3 acts, each seemingly more intimate and revealing than the last, with a performance in between each. It was like attending a funeral for a person who was still alive - you got a sense of their regrets, family history, achievements, who they wanted to be and who they thought they were. 

Radio National has been recording some, and you can listen to them online. And I am going to listen now that I've seen the show! I am curious though, because there were some really physical aspects to the show that made it extra moving in parts.

And then we went to Lucio's for pizza. On a Monday night, you can park right out front and not line up for a table! And because it was my last night in town, I led an expedition to Gelato Messina.

It was raining when we got back to our little loft that night, and we found these waiting for us on our doorstep. Our host is a photographer, and that morning I'd seen her shooting an elaborate set up of meringues.