Nutella Dip

Decided to give baking a miss this Sunday.   Instead, check out this delicious dip. 

Two ingredients : Nutella (1/2 cup) & plain Greek yoghurt (1 cup) & stir.    Serve it up with freshly cut fruit!   Yum.

The Fine Print: Farmer's Union Greek Style is the best yoghurt!

Sunday Bake

It's the second day of winter.  It's cold and it's raining hard.  I've got the fluffy slippers and the warm PJs on.  If I baked, I would spend this rainy Sunday afternoon baking this rainbow cheescake.   It's the only rainbow in sight from the looks of the weather out there.     Get the recipe here and start baking rainbows.



Friday Files & The Lui Bar

Last week (after a day of meetings) I had cocktails at The Lui Bar with a friend.   It's on the 55th Level of the Rialto buildling in Melbourne.  For me, it's a cross between Le Bain (Meat Packing District, NYC), Red Sky Bar (Bangkok) and The Roosevelt (Potts Point, Sydney).    I loved the old school decor against the backdrop of the Melbourne sky.  Oh, and they make really great cocktails!

Love the elegance of the silver tray featuring as the table top

(must try this @ home).

Delicious Manhattan!!

A few hours and a few cocktails later...

**



Bits & Pieces from around the www this week:

# Shoe Obsession - must buy this book

# Soapy heirlooms

# Cat ring love

# Idiot

# Finders Keepers (design and art market - Sydney)

# Go Gatsby - have a cocktail

# Why cats paint (what?)

# Super cute lollipop case

Sunday Bake

As you know, I love my Sunday baking (in my mind at least).   The whisking, beating, sifting and mixing of ingredients before putting it all in the oven and then spending the next hour cleaning up the kitchen is so fun!   This morning, instead of having a sleep in and then taking a relaxing walk down to Woollahra for a coffee and the paper, I made this delicious lemon and yoghurt cake.   I imagine it will be perfectly delicious with a cup of coffee this afternoon.  I found the recipe here if you want to give it a go.



Friday Files

This week's beverage obsession has been sake.  In particular, I have over indulged in cold Shirakabegura sake - it's dry, smooth, easy drinking and seriously addictive.  I love it!  I am planning on hunting a bottle down over the weekend for our home collection.  Until then, I will definitely be enjoying a glass or two of red wine tonight to celebrate the end of another working week.  Happy Friday!

Top 5 links I loved this week:

# Love a good loafter and these are super cute

# Love this ring

# Blow (don't try this at home)

# The craziest clutch I've seen

# In my eye @ Delfina Delettrez

Would you ...

1. Wear this bikini?

Summer is a hell of a long way away (but it's always on my mind).  Would you wear this hot dog and fries bikini?   I guess you would need to be super thin so nobody would judge you (or your suggested eating habits)?   Wonder if they have a no carbs version?  Perhaps with salad and veges?

2.  Eat a piece of this cake?  

Yep, it's what it looks like - it's a brain cake.  Not very appertising.  Would you eat a piece?   I don't have a sweet tooth so I'm out (phew)!  This is a great site for cool cake design ideas - check it out.

Travel for Work

I remember before I started working full time in the corporate world, I craved a job that provided the opportunity for lots of travel!  I thought it was sexy.  The images in my head looked a bit like this.

After twelve years of working with more business travel than I care to remember, I can confirm that there is nothing sexy about twelve+ hour days in back to back meetings, followed by lonely nights in a hotel room generally working through the night, no private jets, no views of the ocean and very little down time to explore a new City.   Reality is, it looks more like this.

I spent this last week interstate for work and am very much appreciating being back at home and in my usual habitat this weekend.   I get three nights back at home before I have to do it all over again.  Which gets me thinking, how do you survive travelling for work? 

Here are my top 5 quasi-survival tips:

1. Find good coffee.

2. Call home!  Regardless of how busy you are, take a few minutes to call home (ET managed to do it).

3. If you have friends in the City - arrange a catch up (even if it is late into the night after days of meetings, a friendly face is therapeutic).

4. Good concealer (to hide the panda eyes after all those late nights working). I am currently loving Napolean Perdis' Mighty Concealer Pen.

5. Eat right.  Finding a great place to eat good food (with good company if possible) after a long day of meetings goes a long way.  My favourite in Melbourne (where I spent the last week for work) is Hanabishi.

Takashimizu (cold) Sake - Delicious

Wagyu meat ball, edamame, good (bashful) company and wasabe!

Sashimi & Sushi Love

More Sashimi - Yum

Red Velvet

This morning I imagined I got out of bed bright and early and baked these little bad boys!  I love my Sunday (imaginary) baking.  They look delicious.  Check out the recipe here. 



Red Velvet Cupcakes

Glass of Happiness

I love weekends.  I'm heading interstate to see my family this weekend.  Looking very forward to it.  I'm told there will be chilled Champagne ready to pop open when I arrive tonight!  What are you doing this weekend?  

Champagne Cocktail

Links I loved this week

# Reward yourself (I love this)

# Odd - but if you're into ducks check this out

# I feel like dancing

# I have absolutely no idea what this is (thoughts?)

# Make your own pinhole camera - remember making this in art at highschool

# Love this tote

# World cocktail week

# Gorgeous objets d'art

Sunday Baking

Today, I imagined I baked these pancake cupcakes.  They look delicious.



What

1 cup milk
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. orange zest (optional)
1/4 cup butter, melted

How

Preheat oven to 204 degrees

Blend first six ingredients (milk thru orange zest) in a blender.  (Any flour clumps should be well-blended)

Blend in butter a little at a time in order to temper the eggs

Grease muffin tins well and distribute batter evenly between 24 tins

Bake for 15 minutes, or until puffy and golden on top

Serve with your favorite toppings (e.g. ice-cream, vanilla bean powder, fresh berries). 

Friday

I really love Autumn in Sydney.  Little rain, lots of sunshine - perfect weather all around.  It's set to be a beautiful warm Autumn weekend in Sydney.  The final days of enjoying a crisp white wine in the warm afternoon sun.   I am spending the weekend with family, enjoying the weather and doing very little.  Whatever you choose to do, have a great weekend.

Some of my favourite links from the www this week:
# Just love this cat
# Words
# Time Machine
# I don't want to talk about Coney Island
# Everything is Fucked, Everything is OK
# I want these heels
# Love this corkscrew
# Aggressive

Sunday Cupcakes

I don't bake.  I rarely "cook", unless making salad is cooking?   It's not that I can't bake or cook (edible food) it's that I have no time and little inclination to do so when I find some spare time on my hands.   It's fun to imagine spending a Sunday in the kitchen baking.  Today, I imagined myself baking these little babies.  Yum! 

White Chocolate Cupcakes



Yay It's Friday!

I have spent the last three days interstate for work in back to back meetings.   I'm exhausted!  I did get a couple of hours down time each night and got the chance to catch up with old friends.  I am counting down to stepping out of the cab tonight and into my front door.  I am ready for a few Friday night drinks with The Boyfriend!   These cool jewels ice cubes are making me thirsty!  Not long to go now (just an entire day of meetings).  Have an awesome weekend whatever you choose to do!



Links I managed to find time to enjoy this week:

# Random

# Ridiculous song from the 90s that gets sporadically stuck in my head. 

Click it to hear it!

# Remember these 3?

# Who said colouring in is just for kids?

# Turd Circus. Love the name, love the products. 

WTF

I love a wine decanter as much as the next wine drinker (in fact we have 3 in our house which The Boyfriend loves to use).   But this little number, by Etienne Meneau looks like it will do nothing but slow the process of getting that wine from the bottle and onto my palate! What do you think, would you buy one?

Celine is my weakness.  But when I came across these Celine shoes for SS13, let's just say I did a triple take.   My initial thoughts included: shoes are supposed to cover your feet and Sesame Street.  I have nothing more to say.  Over to you.

Does this nail polish chip?

Elmo? Is that you?

Going Japanese (again)

To say I'm obsessed with Japanese food would be an understatement.  I have to force myself not to eat sushi/sashimi every day for lunch.  I am always on the hunt for good Japanese restaurants.  My favourite Japanese restaurant for over a year now is Hachi Bei in Sydney's Rose Bay.  The Boyfriend and I made the most of our final days of sun and warm weather over the weekend by heading out for a long lunch on Saturday afternoon.  We love this place - the food is delicious and the service is great.  There really is very little that can rival good food and good wine with the beautiful bay as a backdrop.

Farewell Summer

Yesterday was the last day of Summer in Oz. (Not Oz as in Dorothy and the Wizard, but the Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe Oz!)  Whilst I'm sad to farewell Sunday BBQs, cold beers, sun, beautiful beaches, bronzed skin and cocktails in Bondi watching the sunset, I'm looking forward to Autumn (which officially starts today - 1 March, but as it turns out the Autumn Equinox isn't until the 20th of March - translation: it feels more like Summer than Autumn until then).



Caloric Cuvee

 Tonight I'm looking forward to a few TFIF (thank f* it's Friday) drinks, to celebrate the end of another big work week!  I love these calorie counting wine glasses - I suspect I will be having a few "Who Cares" moments tonight!  
Enjoy the first weekend of Autumn and if you get some down time here are some things to do, be inspired by, read and see:

# Head down to Sydney Mardis Gras Parade this weekend. Always a fun night!
# Aimee Song's blog - Song of Style
# Go on a shopping spree @ Saks 5th Ave from the comfort of your couch (there's some great sales on)
# Amazing NYC Apartment
# Cuffs I love
# Head out for Saturday Brunch & Some Market Action
# Hilarious
# Project Sandwich

Have a good one and make it memorable!

x

Monday Morning Malaise

I can barely operate or utter two words without a coffee in the morning!  Don't ask me how it happened, but I am well and truly dependant on coffee to turn me into a human in the morning.  Found this genius app over the weekend - by Illycoffee Illy Locator. It helps you find the nearest café or espresso bar brewing Illy coffee! 

Sunday Blues

OPI Roadhouse Blues

Gucci

Miu Miu

Margarita

After a weekend of wind, rain and generally doing nothing but relaxing, tomorrow is the start of another chaotic work week.   Happy Monday Eve!