Day 91 - My first hens night!

Tonight, I went to my first hens night. And of course, what happens on hens night stays between the ladies.

But needless to say, there were many of these!

Day 90 - Hanson's coming to Australia and crazy cat lady

In other news, I indulged in my crazy cat lady side tonight.

Day 89 - Oar-fully hungry Bermuda Triangle

I gave the Bermuda Triangle some breakfast, which it obviously thought was oar-fully tasty!

Day 88 - Unwinding after a long day at work

After a really long and busy day at work, I arrived home mentally exhausted. I was looking forward to a night of unwinding and doing absolutely nothing.

Snowflake popped her head out to check that I was ok...


I received these adorable cat prints in the mail. Can't wait to hang them up!


I laughed at this music video of a hilarious song called "Eat It Don't Tweet It" which is a parody of people who photograph their food (ie. me) and immediately share them across their social networks (ie. not always me). Favourite line? "Can't see the food, could you move your tits?"


And laughed the rest of the night away watching The Office, chomping down chocolates and feeling as snug as a bug in a rug in my hoodie with Snowflake on my lap.

Day 87 - Waking up with Snowflake above my head, a face and Lululemon's Stuff Your Bra

It takes 3 legs to make a tripod or to make a table stand, and it takes 3 wheels to make a vehicle called a tricycle, and every triangle has 3 corners, every triangle has 3 sides, no more, no less, you don't have to guess that it's 3, can't you see? It's a magic number:

1. When I was jolted awake by my alarm this morning, I swore I could hear Snowflake purring but I couldn't see her anywhere. She's usually curled up in a furball somewhere on top or next to me, but not this morning. Then I felt a paw slap my forehead.
   
   She was sleeping on the top of my pillow, right above my head! Ha!



2. I had a faces in places spotting at work hehehehe 



3. I literally laughed out loud when I saw these new arrivals on Lululemon's website. 

Both have not 0, or 1, but 7 pockets to carry your stuff, and the spiel on the website reads, "We made this so we could have a place to easily access all our marathon paraphernalia on long runs. Seven pockets were specifically articulated to store your gels, keys and other items that are useful during training (and less embarrassing than tissue, rest assured)." 

I really love Lululemon, but this is freakin' hilarious!

Day 86 - Hobo sighting, downward dog is "fun" and Pellegrini's spag bol

With the past and the present and the future, and faith and hope and charity, and the heart and the brain and the body, it'll give you 3, it's a magic number:

1. A hobo used to live in the little alley behind my apartment (which we have affectionately nicknamed "Hobo Alley" in his honour). True story. He lived there for years. But then one day he moved away.

Now and then, I would bump into him on the streets. He drives me wild with fascination - he's always wearing different clothes which always looked clean, he doesn't smell like a hobo, he's always sitting on a bench people watching, and for a hobo he's REALLY chubby!

I saw him today after not seeing him around for a few months, and excitedly sent Brett a SMS to let him know.

Me: I just walked past hobo on Swanston St! He was carrying a Jack London bag?!
Brett: Wow maybe he invented something and is now a rich hobo?!
Me: Hahaha he was wearing bummy clothes but again did not smell bad at all
Brett: Maybe he doesn't want to be outcast from his hobo friends and wants to blend in...


2. After about 40 (no exaggeration) one-sided-push-ups-in-slow-motion, 40 upward dogs, and 40 downward dogs (with many more to come), the class was groaning. The yoga instructor was leading the class through the sequence and calling out each pose when she heard us groaning, and went, "..adho mukha svanasana... this is great fun isn't it!" I couldn't help but burst out laughing while steadying myself in my downward dog stretch!


3. After a long and gruelling yoga session, I treated myself to a big hearty bowl of spaghetti bolognese from Pellegrini's. Helloooo carbs!

Day 85 - Mushrooms, Sweet Crumble and living through travel stories

With the past and the present and the future; and faith and hope and charity; and the heart and the brain and the body; it'll give you three; it's a magic number:

1. Mushrooms. Lots of buttery, sautéed mushrooms. Truly the food of the Gods.



2. Popped into Sweet Crumble after brunch to check the place out and to pick up some sweet treats. What a gorgeous space! The decor had a very Provencal French charm to it. 

There was an enormous selection of flavoured macarons to choose from (this was just 1/3 of it)...
But I was instantly drawn towards salted caramel and caramel popcorn (which was delish!)...
I was beside myself when I spotted the home-made mango and vanilla flavoured marshmallows...
And there were cupcakes too! Here's my salted caramel cupcake...


3. Caught up with Wang Wei and Brooke tonight at the very hip Kumo Izakaya, and got to live vicariously through them as they shared their travel stories - I imagined myself sitting in that cool bar in Bosnia that was filled from floor to ceiling with random trinkets and bits and bobs with a goldfish sitting in the middle of the bowl amongst all the crap, and its female bathroom which had a dresser displaying every perfume under the sun for you to have a spritz; I pictured the azure and stunningly blue waters of the Plitvice lakes in Croatia; and I could almost feel the hospitality they received in Turkey from the student who physically showed them to the correct bus, the bus driver who drove them to their destination even though it wasn't part of his usual route, and the passengers on the bus who helped them converse with the taxi driver. I'd love to get myself to Europe one day, but for now I'll live through their stories.

With great sadness, I returned Wang Wei his Audrey Kawasaki print which he left with me to look after while he was globe trotting. Ironically, this print is titled 'Letting Go', which was difficult for me to do as I absolutely love it!

Snowflake also said her goodbyes, and even she looked like she was having a hard time letting go!

Day 84 - Brunch at 3pm, hot stone massage and funny shit people say

Somewhere in this ancient mystic trinity you got 3 as a magic number:

1. Delicious brunch at 3pm. Oh yes.


And having just enough coins to afford a honey joy. It was meant to be!


2. A hot stone massage on a cold day like today. Ohhhh yesss! 


3. People say some pretty funny shit.

• "I lost my beer and I spent about 15 minutes trying to find it! I was looking everywhere and searching all over the place. Then I looked in the mirror... (long pause) and said, 'You don't have to be angry with yourself anymore'."

• A: "I've almost finished that bottle of vodka. It took me, like, 2 and half hours. I think that's pretty good effort."

B: "...that vodka's made out of a sack of potatoes..."

A: "I've almost finished that vodka."

B: "You're a sack of potatoes."

• "Japanese girls usually sound really cute when they say stuff, but you cannot imagine just how cute it is when she says 'I'm as snug as a bug in a rug'. And she was, as snug as a bug in a rug. She said she was as snug in a bug in a rug. Oh my gosh I love her."

• A: "I went home after that. I walked home. But then I got lost. I walked in the right direction, but then I'd start walking in the other direction. So I was walking up then walking back then up again. I was so lost. It took me over 2 hours to get home and by then I was SO exhausted."

B: "Why didn't you just get into a taxi?"

A: "Nah it was too close. Getting into a taxi would be stupid."

• A: "What song was that?"

B: "The one that goes, na na na na na na (starts making high pitched sounds)"

A: "Neh neh neh neh neh neh (makes spacey sounds)"

A & B make strange noises at the same time.

A: "Ohh yeah that song, of course."

Day 83 - Funny cats

I've been doing a lot of browsing/perving/shopping on Etsy (LOVE that site) these days, and couldn't help but laugh when I came across Jamie Shelman's Etsy store, The Dancing Cat.

Jamie has all sorts of illustrations of funny cats, like a cat that wears pyjamas with cats on them...

A cat that squeezes other cats...

A cat that's suffering from insomnia...

A cat that's disguising as a burrito...

Jigging cats...

And my favourite, cats that belly bump!

Source: The Dancing Cat by Jamie Shelman

Day 82 - You remind me of home

Stumbling upon this made this smile...

Source: Blacklist Studio Prints, where they have lots of gorgeous stuff

...and made me think of this.


Not a bad song to have stuck in your head all afternoon!

Day 81 - Wall cat is watching you

Ceiling Cat watches you in the toilet while its cousin Wall Cat watches you at work.

Day 80 - Sunset, fish and chips with Oakridge 864 Chardonnay and romantic lights

Happiness is....

...allowing the Melbourne sunset to take my breath away.


...delicious fish and chips paired with an outstanding bottle of Oakridge 864 Chardonnay.


...watching the Melbourne night lights flicker into shapes of daisies.


...strolling along the Yarra River underneath romantic heart shaped lights on a fresh Tuesday night.

Day 79 - Put Victoria on Your Table at Greenhouse by Joost

Today, my pee was harvested to be used as fertiliser in Daylesford. I'll elaborate in a minute.

Had a fantastic time tonight at the 'Put Victoria on Your Table' event at Greenhouse by Joost as part of the Melbourne Food & WIne Festival. 3 regional chefs - Pietro Porcu (Tea Rooms of Yarck), Matthew Fegan (Mr Carsisi), Andrew Doughton (The Long Table in Red Hill) and Matt Stone (Greenhouse, Perth) came together and contributed a dish each, showcasing produce sourced from around Victoria. It was really lovely to make friends with a table of friendly and passionate foodies. There was plenty of chatter about food, restaurants, wine, wineries, wine-making methods, travel destinations, and more food.

I remember when the Greenhouse last popped up in Federation Square in 2008, I was absolutely in love with it and was devastated when I found out it wasn't a permanent fixture and was only going to be around for summer. Imagine my excitement when I found out the Greenhouse would make a reappearance this year as part of the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival - but only for 20 days!

It's hip, it's chic, it's charming, but it's also incredibly clever, environmentally sustainable, resourceful and waste free. Eco-plywood is used extensively inside and outside the Greenhouse, organic waste is processed through the composter on site and used to feed the herbs growing on the roof garden and the plant walls, yet the building is not reliant on mains power or water!







Bakery Hill 8yo whiskey, fresh apple, peach & lemon juice, cinnamon sugar to accompany the 1st course.


The 1st of the 3 parts that make up the 1st course - baked ricotta on tomato coulis with dried black olive


2nd course - Lemon & sourdough crumbed Port Phillip Bay Mussels, butternut pumpkin hummus, pastirma, smoked black chilli & lemon dressing, soft herb salad. This was exquisite. By then the Greenhouse had been encapsulated in darkness, lit only by beeswax candles!


4th course was a Victorian cheese platter.


Utensils consisted of recycled terracotta trays and pots, glass jars were vessels for wine, and water glasses were beer bottles in their previous lives.


So anyway, back to my pee. The toilets were very interesting - using urine-diverting toilets, they were harvesting the patrons' urine to be turned into fertiliser to grow mustard for its oil that will run next year's Greenhouse!! According to Joost Bakker, "Urine is incredibly rich in potassium and nitrogen and phosphorus, so you only need urine from about 25 people to fertilise a hectare of crop. So when you consider how many people there are on the planet, that's a lot of hectares of fertiliser available to us that's just going down the drain at the moment. We throw it away and we shouldn't. It's valuable."

I found the concept a lot more fascinating than gross, and was more than happy to contribute to their mustard crop :)


And how's this for a urinal with an open view of Melbourne?

Day 78 - Lava lamp and getting the carpet steam cleaned

When I was 15, the answer I provided to a questionnaire that asked, "What is your favourite possession?" was "My lava lamp". I realised last night that I hadn't turned it on for years, so I flicked it on before I went to bed. When I awoke in the morning, this beautiful sight greeted me.


So hypnotising and relaxing, I could watch it for hours! It also made me think of, "I drank a lava lamp, it wasn't lava." hahahaha

Today I got the carpets steam cleaned - woo hoo! I was insanely excited about it and Black Gold Carpet Cleaning's owner, Yasser, actually came to do the job himself.

There were 3 hilarious moments:

1. Yasser was amused by how excited and amazed I was with watching black spots disappear off the carpet, and thought I'd be impressed when he showed me how filthy black the water was when he emptied it out from the steam cleaning machine (and I was very impressed). He then asked, "When's the last time you steam cleaned your carpet?" and when I responded with "Never", his jaw dropped to the floor. His expression was priceless.


2. He then asked, "How long have you been living here for?" to which I answered, "Errrr we've lived here for 15 years" and he went ballistic! "WHAT 15 years and the carpet has never been steam cleaned?!?!?!"


3. After Yasser finished up, I thanked him for doing a great job and as I extended my hand to offer a standard handshake (we shook hands when we met), he gave me a bro handshake instead!!! LOL I was in hysterics after! I don't know how but I had elevated myself to bro-ness!

It's such an delightful feeling to know that the carpet is fresh and clean! Once it had dried, I couldn't help rolling around in it with Snowflake.



Lovely!