In my defense, however, Brangelina aside and all, the house in this shoot is incredibly cool. Stunning. You can check out these photos and the rest of the shoot at W Magazine.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Mid-Century Modern Part 2
Those great houses in my last post inspired me to revisit this photo shoot of my forever number 1 boy/girl/family/life/everything crush, the too-perfect-to-be-real Brad and Angie. They are my one and only fully fledged celeb obsession, oh yes they are. I am team Angie, loud and proud baby.
In my defense, however, Brangelina aside and all, the house in this shoot is incredibly cool. Stunning. You can check out these photos and the rest of the shoot at W Magazine.
In my defense, however, Brangelina aside and all, the house in this shoot is incredibly cool. Stunning. You can check out these photos and the rest of the shoot at W Magazine.
5 Interesting Strangers from the last 24 hours
Interesting Stranger 1, on the tram last night: a teenage boy with bad skin and red roses that were already really open. They probably won't last too much longer. I wonder if they are his girlfriend's first flowers? I wonder if she will keep one and press it between the pages of her favourite book?
Interesting Stranger 2, on the same tram: an early-30s trendy skater kinda guy with kind eyes and a bunch of beautiful orange tulips. I can picture him heading home to his shabby chic townhouse and graphic designer wife to surprise her with her favourite flowers. For no reason, just because they would make her smile.
Interesting Stranger 3, outside the market today: a burly cop having a kransky for lunch with a mate. He had a tear in his eye and as I walked past I heard "she can't keep f***ing treating me like this". I hope he works everything out with her.
Interesting Stranger 4, in the dodgy bit of the market: a tall and lanky guy in a trenchcoat trying on a black top hat at a leather stall. He was peering sideways to try and see his profile in the mirror. I hope he bought it, surprisingly he was actually pulling it off quite well!
Interesting Stranger 5, on the street heading back to the office: the nice guy from the post office out on his lunch break. I smiled at him because he seemed familiar but I couldn't place him (and because I'm nice/crazy and smile at most people I make eye contact with). Then I saw the logo on his jumper and it clicked. I think he recognised me though.
Interesting Stranger 2, on the same tram: an early-30s trendy skater kinda guy with kind eyes and a bunch of beautiful orange tulips. I can picture him heading home to his shabby chic townhouse and graphic designer wife to surprise her with her favourite flowers. For no reason, just because they would make her smile.
Interesting Stranger 3, outside the market today: a burly cop having a kransky for lunch with a mate. He had a tear in his eye and as I walked past I heard "she can't keep f***ing treating me like this". I hope he works everything out with her.
Interesting Stranger 4, in the dodgy bit of the market: a tall and lanky guy in a trenchcoat trying on a black top hat at a leather stall. He was peering sideways to try and see his profile in the mirror. I hope he bought it, surprisingly he was actually pulling it off quite well!
Interesting Stranger 5, on the street heading back to the office: the nice guy from the post office out on his lunch break. I smiled at him because he seemed familiar but I couldn't place him (and because I'm nice/crazy and smile at most people I make eye contact with). Then I saw the logo on his jumper and it clicked. I think he recognised me though.
Major Girl Crush #3 - Joan from Mad Men
images from AMC
I love love love Mad Men. Yes, maybe that means I'm very white. But, come on - the outfits, the sets, the drinking, the adultery - perfect!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Be the Change
I was going to have a blog-free today. Was going to give it a break for a day or so as I’ve really been bubbling over with stuff to write about, and maybe it was getting a little full on? A little overwhelming? A little like, why don’t I just shut the f up for a little while? Well, that was about as successful as my pledge to wear black clothes, edgy silver jewellery and maintain a dead straight bob as part of our move to Melbourne. Ha.
Well, dear readers (all 5 of you!), I just couldn’t let this go past without posting about it. I joined up this morning whilst sitting in on one of those teleconferences which is just unrelated enough that your mind starts to drift off to your own special happy place, but you never know when someone will ask for your opinion on something and you couldn’t possibly stand the embarrassment of the token “I’m sorry, what exactly did you want my opinion on, I missed that bit?” Eeep. I usually end up putting the phone on mute to munch loudly on a carrot, then forget I’m on mute and wonder why no one is listening to me? Or get myself confused and think I’m on mute when I’m not and rather am actually subjecting the rest of the callers to my crunching and munching and the occasional humming along to whatever song is in my head?
But again, I digress. I need to take my own advice and zip it.
I signed up for 1 Million Women. It is a campaign in which 1 million women each pledge to cut 1 tonne of CO2 from their daily lives within 1 year of joining the campaign. Imagine that, 1 million women x 1 tonne each – that’s far too many zeroes to count!
It’s awesome – go there, right now! Do this with me! Let’s be fabulous together! Green is the new black, you know!
I had a couple of wins with things we are already doing at home. Like:
1. Having 100% green energy powering the apartment.
2. This funky power board that the husband-to-be hooked up which turns off at the wall the TV and the amp and the speakers and the computer and all the gadgets that are plugged into the TV simply by turning the TV off with the remote! How fabulously clever! I read somewhere the HUGE amounts of energy that a big TV draws when it’s in standby and this has just been a perfect solution.
3. Being super careful about wasting food. We used to have whole crispers of fruit and veg going to waste. Terrible! Since we moved to Melbourne and started spending that bit more to buy organic, local and fresh fruit and veggies, I have been so aware of eating it all. I can’t bear the thought of all that food (and money!) going to waste.
Here is what I am going to try and be better at, just some little things to start with:
1. Reducing the amount of plastic I bring into the house. If I have been lazy and not gone to the market, all the organic veggies from Safeway are wrapped in plastic. I guess that is because it’s impossible to tell them apart at the checkout, but buying a broccoli on a Styrofoam tray and wrapped in glad wrap makes me want to cry! I would rather buy non-organic in that case, but even plastic bags of salad leaves leave you in the same situation. Must not be so lazy! My other plastic addiction are those bottles of Japanese green tea from the fridge at 7-11. Y-U-M. The ones with no sugar, Pokka brand, you know the ones? Y-U-M. But I’ve gotta be careful about that, maybe I will start brewing green tea at home and keeping it in the fridge to bring with me when I go out?
2. I really want a worm farm. I really really do. I think that might need to wait for Spring though, lest they all freeze to death, poor loves? I was asking the gentle and gorgeous Cecilia about them at the Sustainable Living Festival earlier this year, and need to do a little more digging before welcoming some garbage guts worms to our home I think.
3. Being a refashionista. All these great tutorials about refashioning business shirts have made me so excited about the possibilities of being a fun and funky green gal.
I hope you will join me! Let’s be the change we want to see in the world!
(The beautiful image above is by this talented Brissie lass Harriet. Isn't she amazingly clever! I adore it!)
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Inspiration!
Wow. Just a lightning quick note as I have just got home from school and need to have a shower and rest my weary head, but wow, I would not have been able to sleep without venting a little of it here.Semester 2 started today, and I am doing a subject that looks at the history and philosophy of complementary medicine. Tonight we touched on the concept of 'vitality' (Qi or Prana in other cultures) and how we are all born with different amounts of vitality and need to make the most of the vitality that we have in order to live a balanced life. I had very low vitality today (but very high vitality on Saturday night - just ask the poor suckers who I made sit through the entire Treasure Trolls jingle from the 90s!) A toddler chucking a massive tantie in the supermarket or choking with laughter playing aeroplanes with a parent is displaying seriously large amounts of vitality! Old people in the last few years of their life often seem to be wearing out the last of their vitality. It is present in some form in all cultures. Sometimes as naturopaths it is more important for us to ensure our clients have enough vitality to treat their own imbalances before we try and get their body healing anything else. Makes sense, doesn't it.
We also started to look at different concepts of 'getting better'. Like - it is pretty much accepted now that asthma and eczema are connected, that they are different forms of the same inflammation. One theory is that in the process of regaining balance, disease should move outwards, away from your centre. So if you have been suffering from asthma, and then that starts to abate but you are breaking out in eczema like you have never had before, then maybe that is a good thing as your body is purging outwards this inflammation. But if you are treating eczema with a cream which makes the eczema go away but your asthma get worse, then that is not so good as you are pushing the inflammation further internally. Fascinating, huh?
Wow, tonight was only class one and we only just skimmed the surface of many things, but I can tell I am going to love it and it is going to be oh so interesting, and it made me so happy and grateful that I am in a position to go to school and learn all this exciting stuff! Yes, that really is so much better, thanks for letting me vent. Now I will be able to sleep much more easy, yes, I definitely will!
(By the way, the gorgeous print is by Kindling who are fabulous and I thought it went oh so nicely with my little post tonight! Sweet dreams!)
Reasons I love Melbourne #2 - Hopeless, Able and Game, Mainichi
Sigh. I'm tired today. I'm having one of those days where you just can't wake up, and your hair isn't working and when you glimpse yourself in the mirror you look 100 years old. And then I foolishly compared the photos of La Viola Vixen with the last photo I posted of myself playing with a red flash. I look like a dorky eight year old boy compared to her! Sigh.
I had a coffee for lunch, and have finally had the chance to slow down for a minute. I figured I could get a guaranteed feel-good kick from having a little browse on Etsy and posting a little note here, which as you can see from my 4-post day yesterday is clearly my latest obsession. The husband-to-be has got the longevity of this obsession pegged somewhere between my juggling (I couldn't quite master the third ball, and juggling with two is just not very exciting) and gardening (was going really well til it got too cold to go on the verandah, now I just have bulbs which from what I understand you simply put in the ground before Winter and close the door, then they are magically flowers when Winter ends, right?). But no, I foresee long term great things here.
ANYWAY, back to the point. I DID look at Etsy and it DID make me feel happy. I decided to use the local search function - just because, no reason - and came across so many creative types in Melbourne, far too many to count. Here are three that caught my eye:
Pretty, pretty, pretty knickers!!
Warm and fuzzy and clever cards!!
Who knew that cutoffs and leftovers and upcycling could be so perfect!!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Major Girl Crush #2 - Janice Peterson
Sigh, I wish Janice was my friend. I can't for the life of me find a good piccie to back this up, but anyone who regularly watches SBS World News will agree with me - her collarbones are to die for! I have bone envy. Serious props for Janice.Whilst searching for a pic that demonstrated her great bone structure, I stumbled upon this wonderful little fact - she is in a long term relationship with one of The Presets! Now THAT, my friends, is random. I adore it! Totally fabulous.
Picture from Media Watch
Major Girl Crush #1 - La Viola Vixen
piccies found here
La Viola Vixen was a performer at the first burlesque extravaganza I went to back in Sydney. When she danced I fell a little bit in love with her, she is radiant and gorgeous and a delight to watch on the stage! Alas, being a Brissie chick, she is only performing at the Brissie Gangsters Ball it seems. So sad! Perhaps she will still change her mind and come to Melbourne?
She is featured in this pretty clip too:
Beautiful.
Reasons I love Melbourne #1 - Dim Sims and closed Gelato shops
Backing up yesterday's fine weather with another gorgeous crisp Winter's day I figured I had to brave the wind and get out and about at lunchtime.
First stop was to pick up 2 x South Melbourne Market dim sims. These dimmies are so famous I don't even have to GO to South Melbourne Market to get them, the cafe downstairs has a regular stockpile if you ask nicely. They are great, and from what I hear (and the number of Google hits that search term gets!), pretty much the rest of Melbourne agrees. Delicious. Don't even want to know what is in them. Delicious.
Next was a stroll up to Carlton to drop some film in at Vanbar for developing. I figured since I was up this neck of the woods I would drop by Lygon St for some killer gelato. First stop: Casa del Gelato - closed for a Winter break. Second stop: Il Dolce Freddo - closed for a Winter break. Third stop: some other gelato place I turned to in my growing desperation for a tart, sticky lemon sorbet to counteract the salty savoury overload from the dimmies - closed for a Winter break. I LOVE that the little gelato places close for Winter. I mean, it makes so much sense! Who in their right mind would want gelato in this weather? I didn't even get cranky at all, I could just picture all the gorgeously surly old gelato proprietors making the most of the Winter, drinking strong coffee, tending to the house, being yelled at by their loving and bossy wives.
Making my way back to the office, senza gelato but with the promise to myself that I'd get a macchiato later on, a huge gust of wind grabbed my scarf and unravelled it nearly completely from around my neck. It twisted right up into the air and I only just managed to grab the end before it was lost and gone forever. Even then, my first reaction was "how gorgeous, that was so poetic". (?!?)
I repeat - do NOT want to know what is in those South Melbourne Market dim sims!
First stop was to pick up 2 x South Melbourne Market dim sims. These dimmies are so famous I don't even have to GO to South Melbourne Market to get them, the cafe downstairs has a regular stockpile if you ask nicely. They are great, and from what I hear (and the number of Google hits that search term gets!), pretty much the rest of Melbourne agrees. Delicious. Don't even want to know what is in them. Delicious.
Next was a stroll up to Carlton to drop some film in at Vanbar for developing. I figured since I was up this neck of the woods I would drop by Lygon St for some killer gelato. First stop: Casa del Gelato - closed for a Winter break. Second stop: Il Dolce Freddo - closed for a Winter break. Third stop: some other gelato place I turned to in my growing desperation for a tart, sticky lemon sorbet to counteract the salty savoury overload from the dimmies - closed for a Winter break. I LOVE that the little gelato places close for Winter. I mean, it makes so much sense! Who in their right mind would want gelato in this weather? I didn't even get cranky at all, I could just picture all the gorgeously surly old gelato proprietors making the most of the Winter, drinking strong coffee, tending to the house, being yelled at by their loving and bossy wives.
Making my way back to the office, senza gelato but with the promise to myself that I'd get a macchiato later on, a huge gust of wind grabbed my scarf and unravelled it nearly completely from around my neck. It twisted right up into the air and I only just managed to grab the end before it was lost and gone forever. Even then, my first reaction was "how gorgeous, that was so poetic". (?!?)
I repeat - do NOT want to know what is in those South Melbourne Market dim sims!
Flapper or Moll? Decisions, decisions...
Can I really wait until November?? Can't wait! So much fun! Yeah!!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Melbourne Open House + Beer and Burgers
What a spectacular Winter's Day! Sunny and cold and perfect. Made the most of it by getting out and wandering around some of the buildings featured in Melbourne Open House.
First stop was Denmark House - those Danes sure know how to make a funky lamp.
The Manchester Unity building was bypassed due primarily to the 3 hour queue, instead we popped into Capitol Theatre for a bit of an Art Deco fix.
We also stopped by Council House 2 - a gorgeous ecologically aware office block with some great eco design. I amused myself in the queue by playing with the reflections in the glass walls, the husband-to-be on the other hand was not so easily amused.
The day ended with beer and burgers at Beer Deluxe in Fed Square. A lack of clean clothes lead me to raid Pete's wardrobe for the day, so it seemed fitting to honour his style with some beerage to complete the picture. Look at us in our matching orange and black stripes! So cute. Pete can frequently be seen rockin' a fierce stripe (not that he would say so in so many words of course).
First stop was Denmark House - those Danes sure know how to make a funky lamp.
The Manchester Unity building was bypassed due primarily to the 3 hour queue, instead we popped into Capitol Theatre for a bit of an Art Deco fix.
We also stopped by Council House 2 - a gorgeous ecologically aware office block with some great eco design. I amused myself in the queue by playing with the reflections in the glass walls, the husband-to-be on the other hand was not so easily amused.
The day ended with beer and burgers at Beer Deluxe in Fed Square. A lack of clean clothes lead me to raid Pete's wardrobe for the day, so it seemed fitting to honour his style with some beerage to complete the picture. Look at us in our matching orange and black stripes! So cute. Pete can frequently be seen rockin' a fierce stripe (not that he would say so in so many words of course).
Hmm, how is it that 'Diana with Beers' is the only half decent shot I got all day?
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