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. 

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.

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

Stories from home

A shot from the weekend, before all of the citrus disappeared (well the lemons and limes anyway). Who knew Winter could be so colourful?

My brother and his wife brought some excellent stories from Sydney on their recent trip, silly stories and family stories, including an account of their recent outing to a big family dinner where the group ordered a 2 metre pizza. I wanted to know more and they showed me panoramic photographs snapped on a phone to satisfy my curiosity. The pizzas came served on custom made boards with handles at both ends, they said, and every time one left the kitchen, resting on the shoulders of two male staff members, it was announced. "Two metre pizza!"

I laughed and felt like I had been there. Before the dinner, they'd been to a book launch and reading that included some stories from our aunt. One of the writers read a story her obsession with Singaporean mud crab, which she'd consumed all over Sydney and overseas, and it was a story that hinted at an obsessive yet sometimes invisible illness.

Their stories made me feel a little homesick. They may have been stories about pizzas and crabs but they were exactly the kind of stories that I wanted to hear - funny, unusual and silly stories from home.

an excellent weekend

It may be Tuesday but I am still energised from the long weekend. My brother and his wife came to stay for a night, and we talked and ate non-stop. It was so exciting to have our house full for a night. They arrived in Wagga Wagga just in time for our weekly Skype session with my baby niece. We took turns trying to entertain her and chat to my sister, and all crammed behind the computer to completely bamboozle her at one point. She's very good at sitting up on her own now and has developed a strong interest in typing.




We cooked up a three course meal for our guests on Sunday night, and made everything from two Nigel Slater cookbooks, we're obsessed! Tony made tomato and basil shell pasta and the most delicious rib eye steaks for dinner with a special miso butter sauce. I made a fennel and parmesan salad and a lime tart, using Kristy's homegrown and surprisingly yellow limes.





There was just enough time for a walk into town on Monday morning and four bowls of muesli before Derrick and Chris had to go home. I wish they could've stayed a little longer! They left determined to stop for meat pies in Jugiong, and with some leftover lime tart stashed in their bag to accompany them on the long drive home.

And then it was time to work on a novelty cake for Sophie's birthday. I have been waiting to make her this cake for months and am so proud of myself for not spoiling the surprise. I made a fairy bread shaped lemon butter cake, which had an excellent cake to icing ratio. I had very good luck (or maybe lots of patience) and made the best batch of buttercream. I also got hundreds and thousands all over the kitchen but it was worth it.




Here are a few outgoing and incoming presents. This box of chocolates is keeping us company now us guests have left. They're beautiful.




Sophie had a Winter picnic in her backyard with the yummiest salads, a bonfire (I've never been to a bonfire before!) and ping pong table. It was the best way to end a long weekend.

This week we are getting ready to post our wedding invitations (we're less than 3 months out!) and I'm editing a video story at work that I am really excited about. 

Beyond the Internet, I am listening to the excellent Winter, Again mix from Finetooth Radio (which is my brother's radio show) and catching up on the Radio Yak series on Radio National. I haven't read or finished a book for a very long time but am excited about starting 'The Dealer is the Devil', which tracks the history of the Aboriginal art market in Australia and I am waiting for Lee Tran Lam's latest zine to arrive in my mailbox any day now. And we have watched two great films lately, an art documentary called Cutie and the Boxer (which I felt slightly uneasy watching but kept thinking about days afterwards) and an Italian film called The Great Beauty, which made excellent use of music.