Week 20 - Half way!

It's incredible to think that I'm half way through this pregnancy business already.  While the first three months felt like they took forever, after bebe became public knowledge, it's just gone so quickly.

It's been a big week.  We moved into our new house, which we both LOVE.  It feels like such a grown up house, and it's so big compared to our old place.  And it's really nice not to have to find a way to use every square centimetre of space and cram stuff under the beds, and in every drawer possible, like we did at our old place.  I'm loving the fact that we have dimmer switches, that our bedroom has an en suite, we have STAIRS, our aspect out the back is leafy and quiet, and the kitchen has an awesome island bench (just to name a few things - I could keep going).  It's just too exciting.  We have a bunch of new furniture which all looks great.

Jamie was an amazing unpacker over the weekend and pretty much did everything except two boxes, which I told him not to do (my handbags and folded clothes).  Today is our third wedding anniversary too!  We are off to Quay for dinner!!  I booked it six months ago, not knowing that I'd be pregnant and that we would have just moved house, but it's not like I can complain.  It's only the best restaurant in Australia.  And we haven't been yet, so we are both excited.  And we have a 6.30 booking, so not only do we get to eat early, we'll be able to look out over the water and watch the sun disappear.

Week 20 photo.

19 weeks, and it's a boy!

So the big news this week is that we are having a baby boy.  I was 100 per cent convinced we were having a girl, so it actually came as a total shock to me (despite the 50/50 odds).  I don't know where it came from, but given my reaction, I really have some strong gender hang ups that I need to deal with!  But I know when he's born that I wouldn't want it any other way, and that I won't be able to love him more.  I went and bought some adorable onsies on the day we found out he is a he - like a blue and grey stripey one with a dog wearing a fireman's helmet, and a blue and white stripey polo neck onsie with a red crab on it.  Cuuute!  And a few stripey and spotty little onsies which are all so teeny tiny, although when I hold them up to my stomach it's clear how much further I have to go!

This week's outfit brought to you by Country Road.  I totally love this skirt, and hopefully it will still be useful non preggie if it's not too stretched.

This is genius

I love the dedication and patience that this guy shows in stringing out an internet scammer from Malaysia over three months.  It's pretty bloody funny too.
http://www.theawl.com/2011/12/my-three-month-facebook-dialogue-with-a-scammer-from-malaysia-pretending-to-be-a-beautiful-woman

18 weeks - nearly half way!

It's amazing to think I'm nearly half way through this pregnancy.  Time is just flying, and the days when we have a small human being to look after are fast approaching.  I've been thinking a lot more about birth and actually having a baby rather than just being pregnant.  We saw the baby last week at the obstetrician's, but it had its legs crossed (how modest!), so he couldn't see if it was a boy or a girl.  But we should find out on Monday when we do the full morphology scan.
We met with our doula on the weekend and I asked her lots of what felt like stupid questions, like, if I have to have a caesar, can I have my glasses on (yes - phew).
In other news, we sold our house this week, which is a huge relief.  There will be a bit of an overlap between when we move into the new place and settle Rainford, but it's nothing major.  We bought a new fridge, outdoor setting, dining table and chairs (we went with the old weathered looking table, rather than the Danish looking one), and a TV cabinet on the weekend.  All getting delivered on move day, which is going to be interesting.  I've hired packers to make life easier, but really, moving is never easy.  At least we don't have much stuff, and it should be relatively easy.  And we can take our time unpacking.

LV windows

The new Louis Vuitton store is opening in Sydney today.  Naturally, I'm invited (jokes!!).  Their window display is pretty awesome right now, it's all animals made out of actual pieces of LV bags and other things.  My favourite was a moose head, but I couldn't get a decent pic without tons of reflection, so you'll have to settle for this croc.  You don't really get the effect from this far away, but you get the idea.  They've got lots of little animals too, they are really amazing.  It's very clever. 

17 weeks

Why can't weekends be longer?  I feel like I'm majorly on the countdown to Christmas and so looking forward to hanging out at home/ at a beach house for a while.  I just want some down time to relax and catch my breath a bit.

Another week has flown by.  The bump isn't getting noticeably more prominent, but it's rounding out, and I've also noticed that my upper torso is thickening up a bit.

This week we have an obstetrician's appointment, and if bebe is in the right position, we will be able to find out the sex!  People seem surprised we are finding out, and also that we aren't keeping it a secret.  It seems seems so faux dramatic to find out but then keep it a secret.  No one is going to be more interested than the mother and father, and it seems ridiculous to make everyone wait with faux bated breath to find out.  So, as soon as we know, we'll be telling people.

I'm kind of hating all my clothes right now.  I still think I look borderline between pregnant and too many pies.  I am starting to notice that it's harder to get up and down and haul myself around.  I can only imagine how difficult this is going to get if I'm already demanding Jamie give me a hand to get up off the floor.  And the bump keeps getting in the way unexpectedly when I'm leaning over and reaching for things, and it also touches my desk in front of me at work.  How am I supposed to sit at a desk when I'm big if the bump already touches the desk??  

Not your typical love story

So this isn't your typical love story, but it's pretty amazing.  Their "common ground was the decade and a half each had served on death row before their convictions were overturned for the murders that they steadfastly maintained they did not commit".  The things that bring people together are amazing.  I'm glad they are happy, and that Brooke Shields came to their wedding.

How to deep fry a whole turkey

I was nevr going to not watch a video on The Guardian website with a header like that...  It's actually totally fascinating, and I would like someone I know to immediately try doing it.  Shame Dodd is in London.  I know he'd be up for this sort of craziness.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/video/2011/nov/23/how-to-deep-fry-turkey

Mantic wedding proposal

I just love these sorts of videos - a romantic proposal gets me every time, and this one is just so sweet.  A pilot and his now bride to be took pictures of themselves all over the world, spelling out "We always knew" over six years.  On the last letter, he got some people to unfurl a sign behind her saying "ill you marry me", and then showed her the pic.  Too cute.  I cried.
p.s. I would have chosen a different song to base my romantic video clip to, but a small detraction to an otherwise beautiful video.

Crazy Frenchmen

Just for something non baby related, watch this clip.  My heart was in my throat just looking at the video.  These guys are crazy.

Rainy Wednesday

It's pouring down with rain outside and it's quite chilly (for nearly being summer in Sydney anyway).  The weather is making me think of what it will be like when this baby is born.  It's due in May (it's talking all my concentration not to call it a she yet - I'm totally convinced it's a girl), at the end of Autumn, so it is likely to be cold and rainy.  I think it will be nice to nestle and be cozy with our new baby while the weather whips around outside.  The world can be as cold and miserable as it likes, we'll be warm inside and looking at the rain fall down outside the big glass doors on our new back deck.  I can definitely see us in the new house, on the couch, playing on the floor, feeding in the baby's room, hauling myself from bed multiple times a night woken up by cries.  But I also know it will be nothing like I expect and that nothing can prepare me.
I feel in a strange sort of limbo right now.  I don't think I look fully pregnant yet - I know the last bump pic made me look quite prego, but when I'm in work clothes, it just looks like I have a gut.  The initial excitement of finding out I am pregnant and the bombardment of new information has died down a bit, and I can almost have moments where I forget that I am pregnant.  I almost question if I dreamed it all when I remember.  My urges to tell the entire world about it have died down a bit, and I feel a bit more private and protective about it.
I've had the last day and a half off work, home sick with this tummy bug, and I think I really needed the rest.  I'm still worried that something has happened to the baby, but logically, I know things will be fine.  I have an obstetrician's appointment next week, and Jamie is going to be away for work, so last night I got a bit fretty that if something was wrong, I'd be there on my own.  Again, I logically know everything is fine, but the emotional side is overriding it all.  I think when I start to feel the baby move it will be a lot more comforting and real feeling.  And we find out the sex in mid-December, which will be awesome.  People are so divided on this issue, and feel very strongly about it.  It's their way or you are an idiot.  I personally think that it's a lovely surprise whenever you find out, and nothing will take away from the tsunami of surprise and excitement on the day the baby is born.  I'd rather picture a gender specific future for my baby.

Tables

What was I talking about in my last post?  Nothing to write about - pfft, how about dining room tables?  Hold on to your seats readers.
I saw two tables I like this weekend, completely different looks, and I just can't decide.  The first (**NOTE: these chairs are NOT being considered, so try to look beyond them) is this weathered looking one.

The second is this Danish looking one, which is a bit fancier (Orson and Blake), but also more likely to get trashed.  I love the chair on the left here to go with this table... but I just can't decide which table I like better.

Bump watch - week 16 edition

So here we are again.  Another week down, and nothing interesting to write about other than my bump.  And a minor case of food poisoning, which has sent me into fits of paranoia and anxiousness.  The irony being that we were at a Japanese restaurant and I didn't even touch any sashimi or sushi.  Everything I ate was cooked, and I ordered separately from the banquet that the other people we were with all had.  And I still got sick.

We went furniture shopping for our new house on the weekend.  We bought a new couch, which is totally exciting.  Since we have had an L shaped couch in this house, I cannot sing the praises of an L shaped couch enough.  They are the best.  So, now we have a bigger space to fill, that just meant a bigger L shaped couch as far as I was concerned.  We ended up buying this couch from King Furniture.  It's the Jasper, and it's modular, so can be configured a bunch of differnet ways, which Jamie says we'll never do, but I remain optimisitc.  It's going to take 10 weeks to make and deliver, so we'll have it mid January.  Exciiiting.  And most importantly - it was half price!  Got to love that.
 

Bump watch - 15 weeks

Another week down.  I'm loving the dress I'm wearing in this picture.  All of my maternity wear so far has come from ASOS, and it's cheap and not ugly, so tick, and tick.  I've also apparently become obsessed with stripes.  Can't get enough.  Does that count as a craving?  Because I'm certainly not craving anything else.  I am having crazy intense dreams though, which I think is a normal preggo thing.

Pretty much all of the pregnancy books I have read I find totally irritating, so I'm kind of ignoring them - not what they say, just the fact they exist.

I bought myself a maternity pillow the other day (belly bean), which is awesome and super comfortable, but because I'm a really restless sleeper, I quite often wake up in the middle of the night with the pillow tucked under the small of my back, which I'm reasonably certain undoes any of the good done by having it support my bump and back for the one hour before I roll on to it, but it's still pretty comfy.

We haven't bought any baby stuff yet, but are aiming to do so after Christmas when we are in the new house.  I think that will be fun.  So will having a new house!!!

I was in Melbourne again this week for work, back home in Syders now. 
I bought some peonies on the weekend which are just beautiful.  They only have such a short season, and I adore them, they are totally my favourite flowers.
Nothing much else to report - I didn't want this to just transform into a baby blog, but whatevs.

14 weeks pregnant

So 14 weeks is now behind us.  But the tiredness isn't.  I thought it would go after 12 weeks, but it turns out it would rather stay.  This weekend I went to yoga on Saturday morning for the first time in a couple of weeks, and I don't know if it was the yoga or something else that wore me out, but I was TIRED AND CRANKY for pretty much the rest of the day.  Even napping during the day made me cranky.  We did have a lovely picnic with two sets of fabulous friends and their babies in Centennial Park, and my lunch basically consisted of three kinds of cake, so it wasn't all downside.  Sunday I just gave in to the tired and lay around all day - finished a book, finished season three of Breaking Bad, made a yummy salad for dinner with the hubby and painted my toenails.
This is week 14.  Stretchy waist clothes - where have you been all my life?  How will I ever go back?

This week I'm off to Melbourne for work for a couple of days.  After this trip, I'll be a gold frequent flier.  Awesome.  I've been a *little* bit obsessed with it lately, checking my status credits after each flight to see how close I am.  But this trip will tip me over into gold.  So I'll be able to use my complimentary Qantas club access for about four more months, and then it will go to waste for the next year while I can't fly (too pregnant) or don't want to fly (with a newborn).  Sigh.  And then I'll have to start all over again.  Having said that, I told a very nice Qantas man I was pregnant the other day and therefore needed an aisle seat... and he upgraded me to business!  Yes!!!  So I spent the whole flight from Melbourne to Sydney (and when I say the "whole" flight, it was an hour and 20 minutes) eating a very nice cheese plate.
As a total aside, and something not pregnancy related, we went and saw Paul Keating being interviewed by Kerry O'Brien last weekend for the release of his new book.  The Sydney Writers' Festival taped it and put it up on their website.  I'm not a massive political nerd, or even a non massive one, but I really loved it.  PK is just really funny and sharp, and if you have a spare hour or so, it's worth watching.
http://www.swf.org.au/
http://www.swf.org.au/

NYT eulogy

This is a very moving and beautifully written eulogy by Steve Job's sister.  I'm not an Apple geek or anything, but it's worth a read.

2 + 1 = 3

My blogging efforts have somewhat waned lately, but there is a good excuse for a resurgence - I'm pregnant!  It feels like I've had to keep it a secret for so long, and I'm terrible with secrets, so I'm so glad to be out in the open about it.  We have passed the first trimester, and my little bump is growing nicely.  I haven't been sick at all, which is fantastic, but I have been feeling tired like never in my life.  That does seem to have passed now too, so I guess I'm really lucky.
The baby is due on May 5, which is also my mum's 60th birthday!  Cute!  So I'll be pretty pregnant through a Sydney summer, but at least when I'm really big at the end it will be cooler.
It took a few weeks to actually get used to the idea that I was pregnant - what a surreal feeling, even if you are expecting it.  It was almost like I couldn't believe it.  Everything else was the same - we were sitting on our couch, watching Crownies, drinking a glass of red wine (ahem, that stopped after the pregnancy test), in our house, with all our stuff around us, but I AM PREGNANT.  That just blew me away.
Now, I am feeling very smug and content about it.  The rest of the world has just dropped away.  I have a baby inside me.  It's probably the most major life change a couple can undertake, and it's so lovely to have a partner who is supportive and really, really wants this.  We bought a new house a couple of weeks ago, and the idea of getting a baby's room ready turns me to mush, let alone thinking about the baby.  So, we are enjoying this time, while it's just the two of us, and we are beyond excited to have this baby.
Enough sap about the miracle of life.  This is me at 12 weeks.

And 13 weeks:

I'll try and take a weekly picture.
Anything with a waist band stopped fitting me at about nine weeks, but I've bought up massively on ASOS maternity wear, which is actually nice (and cheap!), and not nauseating infantile rubbish.
So, feeling good, feeling very happy, and really glad to be able to share the news with everyone. x

Food ads

We've all been here - watching an ad for some sort of fast food and snorting that "as if it really looks like that" etc.  I've often wondered about how much fun it would be to do food ads - and here is the answer in this article about food ads in the NYT.  It is awesome.  It's also kind of gross, but totally fascinating.

Awesome old people

This blog is great.  All about fashionable old people.  I really hope that I'm even a fraction as awesome as some of these ladies when I get old...
http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com/

Gold, and diamonds, and pearls, oh my!

I would looove to see a catalogue of Elizabeth Taylor's jewelery, let alone see some of the pieces in person.  The stories behind some of the pieces are awesome.  You've got to admire a woman this dedicated to jewels.  The Guardian writes this article about the upcoming auction.  It sounds amazing.

Products that change your life

In the ongoing series of products that change your life (which so far consists only of microplane graters), there are two recent additions to our household which deserve a shout out.
The first, a Dyson vacuum cleaner:

I have always been a big fan of Miele appliances, and used a trusty hand me down Miele from my mum for years.  It finally died, and I was tasked with buying a new one.  PROMISING not to buy the most expensive one in the shop (ie. a Dyson), I dispatched myself to Bing Lee in hunt of a new vacuum cleaner.  And they were having a car park sale, where Dyson's were half price!!!  Yes!!!  Awesome.  So, how could I not?  I didn't even enter the shop.
It is UNBELIEVABLE how much dirt this sucked out of our rugs the first time I used it.  I had to wave around the plastic container that collects the dirt in Jamie's face to get the message across to him.  And talk about it for three hours.  Really, they are just incredible.
The second thing that has changed out lives recently is a wool underlay on our bed.  Does the rest of the world know about this??  Why has no one every told me before?  It's waaarm in winter and apparently cool in summer, and it makes the mattress sooooft, and it's lovely and I highly recommend to anyone.  We got ours at the Sheridan outlet on Foveaux St (half price).  Jamie thought it was totally stupid, but he's also majorly converted to the fan club.  In the middle of the night a couple of nights ago, he was all "this underlay is really great isn't it".  Uh huh.  It sure is honey.

True Blood sex index

If you are a fan of True Blood, which ah most definitely ahm, you will really apprecite this table chronicling who has had the most sex in what kinds of different ways (shower, biting, homosexual, etc).  And who would have thought Tara would come out on top.  So to speak.
CAN'T WAIT for season 4 to arrive in Australia.

Picnic en masse

I really love this story about 10,000 people turning up to an unadvertised, word of mouth picnic in Paris.  All dressed in white no less.  I'd be totally jelly if there was one on in Sydney and I didn't get an invite.

Emotions with John Hamm

Generally speaking, I am a fan of the Hamm, but this fan is committed.  And the resulting blog is hilarious - Emotions with John Hamm.  A journey through the spectrum of human feeling.

Bad blogger!

So I've written my travel posts a hundred times in my head: amusing anecdotes, insightful observations, and riveting reading galore. I just have been too lazy to do it. BAD BLOGGER.
So to sum it up, it was most definitely a four part trip. We started out in Holland, where my parents are from, and have an apartment, so we totally felt like locals. The town where the apartment is (Roosendal) is the town where my dad grew up, and he showed us where he went to school, where he and mum used to live when first dating and we rode bikes around to visit family and see local sights. Lots of fun, and I got to fill in some of the blanks of my own family history, which at times seems so far removed from me. I'm entirely sure that both my parents have been instrumental in my attitude to preparing and eating food, so that was a very important part of the trip. And we haven't seen my parents for about 18 months, so there was lots of catching up to do. And eating. Oh, the eating.
I'm trying to keep myself to one photo of each location or I'll do a blog post with 360 pics... So this is the Holland pic. Kinda sums it up well.



From Holland, Jamie and I caught the train to Paris for four nights. We spent that time walking, walking and more walking. Also a ton of eating (what a surprise). We stayed at the most amazing hotel just off the boulevard st germain. Hotel d'aubisson rocked my world, I cannot recommend it highly enough. Amazing rooms, amazing location, amazing staff, and we will be back any chance we get.
On the first day I accidentally ordered veal head terrine, got abused by a motor cyclist who nearly ran me over, and got told off by a man in a cheese shop for touching and smelling things. Siiigh. But I recovered well.
We had a mixture of hits and misses with meals. Some were gimmicky and average, some were amazing. The blockbuster meal we went for was at the sister restaurant of chateaubriand (which is in the top 15 restaurants in the world accruing to the San Pelligrino list, and which we couldn't get into, even with three months notice). The restaurant is called Le Daupin, and while it was better than good, given we were in Paris, and it was food by one of the best chefs in THE WORLD, it was just ok. My favorite meal was on our last night, at a la petite chaise. I had French onion soup, and then a steak tartare. So awesome. Full of locals and just fantastic (thanks The Guardian, for your recommendation).
This is us in the courtyard of our hotel after dinner one night. The barman was a hilarious campy man, who insisted on climbing up on the fountain to take this pic, because we'd look skinner form that angle. And we do.



After Paris, we caught the train to the south of France, where we met up with the parentals again, and spent a week in a GORGEOUS villa in a little French village. We ate amazingly, with a view over the mediterranean, a beautiful private garden, and blissful country noises wafting up to us.
We did day trips to St Tropez, Monaco, wine country and the beach. If I wasn't me, I'd hate me.
This was the view from our bedroom... We got the place off the website vbro, and we'll totally use it again.



After France, Jamie and I hired a car and spent a week in Italy. We went to Portofino, Lake Como (George Clooney broke up with his GF the week after we were there... Just saying), and Venice for a night.
I loved Portofino for it's smallness and stunning setting, Lake Como for it's grandness and majesty, and Venice for it's sheer improbability and ability to endure 5000000000 tourists every day.
Naturally, we ate amazingly the whole time, and were home all too soon.
This is us leaving Venice, full of end of holiday blues, but so happy for the memorable and delicious time we had.

Holidays and princesses

Rainford Days has been on holidays in Europe, as one does this time of year.  I will update about that, hopefully over the weekend.  In the mean time however, it is important that you read two articles on the very soon to be wed future princess Charlotte of Monaco.  She sounds miserable (according to the NYT anyway, which I kind of trust a bit more on Vogue on these matters), like she is surrounded by bitches, and she openly admits she only has two friends!  Which means that we are going to have years of good gossip articles and her going off the rails ahead of us!  I'm pumped for this wedding - there won't be any of the restraint of Kate and Wills' - it's going to be opulent, expensive, and have bitching fashion and big diamonds.
NYT profile
Vogue profile

A note to wealthy recluses everwhere

Don't die alone!  Really.  I can be a lot of fun, and am happy to travel with you, stay in your big houses, and help spend your money.  I am hilarious.  Seriously.

If your house was burning and you were a designer and had the inclination to artfully arrange what possessions you'd take with you...

It would look something like this.  Which is pretty and nice.  But seriously people, get a grip.  There is sentiment and there is just plain stupid.  There is a lot of crap there.  Me, I'd just go for valuable items - computers and jewellery.  In fairness, all my pics are on my computer, so there is some sentimental value there.  And I'd put everything in my handbags to transport out of said burning house.  And then I'd want to know how much time I had left before my house burnt down, and spend it wildly throwing all my clothes out onto the street.  Which is presumably not burning.

Gill and Bourdain and Bilson

I see a lot of events and murmur about how we should go to things and get out more, and usually don't end up doing anything about it.  But just you try and stop me when I saw that Anthony Bordain and A A Gill were speaking as part of the Sydney Writers Festival, moderated by Tony Bilson.
It was on last night and it was sensational.  Bordain and Gill are both quick, full of energy, and importantly, also fully of rage.  And they are extremely funny.
We have both read most of Bourdain's books, and I've recently sent around this A A Gill restaurant Review from Vanity Fair as an outstanding example of the genre.  I'd only really had a peripheral interest in Gill previously, but he's rocketed way up my list of awesome people.  The man is a legend.
The only thing I have to complain about is Bilson.  He was *so* out of place with the other two - he was pretentious, scripted and boring.  Bordain and Gill left him for dead.  He kept trying to inject himself as the third personality in the conversation - I think the fact that he was left twiddling his thumbs at the book signing afterwards while panting fans lined up for Gill and Bordain said it all.
Jamie at one stage very appropriately pointed out that it was the most "things white people like" crowd ever condensed in one place.  Which was totally true.  Hipster "foodies" as far as the eye could see.  It was kind of embarrassing when we went to BBQ King afterwards, and the table of people next to us had just been at the same event and proceeded to have the exact same conversation as Jamie and I had five minutes earlier about how Bilson didn't fit in and how the other two were so awesome.  Really, Are we THAT predictable??  Although, with a mouth full of delicious squirting duck skin, I quickly got over my utter whiteness.

Uncle Karl's wisdom

I've written before about my glee when Karl Largerfeld speaks.  The following extract lifted word for word from the Guardian is a string of pearls from Uncle Karl.  I just don't even know how to narrow it down to my favourite.  It's brilliant.

"Is this the finest fashion interview ever conducted?
As regular readers will know, Fashion Statement has an obsession with the wit and wisdom of Karl Lagerfeld. We love a gnomic tweet from the master of the profound non sequitur almost as much as we love a picture of him going dangerously radical in dark grey leather gloves. But this week we stumbled upon a true treat in Vice magazine - an epic 6,000-word interview with the man himself. And not just by any old hack. No, this meeting of minds took place between his Royal Karlness and Canadian writer, filmmaker, photographer and gay zombie porn director Bruce LaBruce.

The result is surely one of the finest pieces of incisive, probing journalism since Fearne Cotton grilled Peaches Geldof on ITV's seminal news show, Fearne and ...

FS is spoilt for choice when it comes to picking our favourite quotes, but here are our favourite ten things we learned from the interview:

1. Bruce LaBruce has redefined "anti-materialism"

What struck me most about Lagerfeld when I was doing my research was how closely aligned many of my beliefs were with his. Despite owning a private jet and multiple luxury homes, he is anti-materialistic and remains detached from his possessions, particularly as he has become more mature.

Just for the record, when FS wins the lottery, we are going to be totally anti-materialistic about our million-pound home.

2. Communism was all about transparent jumpers

Karl: I had an interview once with some German journalist - some horrible, ugly woman. It was in the early days after the communists - maybe a week after - and she wore a yellow sweater that was kind of see-through. She had huge tits and a huge black bra, and she said to me, "It's impolite; remove your glasses." I said, "Do I ask you to remove your bra?"

FS loves how the recent fall of the Berlin Wall is used as a self-evident explanation for poor fashion taste.

3. Karl is not pretentious

If I were pretentious I would say that I'm not an average person. But really, I know how that is ... I like to know everything; I like to be informed. I am not pretentious. I can speak several languages. I can read in every language.

See? Definitely not pretentious.

4. People dying of starvation is so boring

What does being politically correct mean to you?

It means people talking about charities. Do it, be charitable, but don't make a subject of conversation out of it because then you bore the world to death. It's very unpleasant. But I don't go out a lot so I'm not so exposed to people.

5. Therapists! On standby please!

Bruce: What were you like as a child?

Karl: I was very much like a grown-up. I have photos of me as a child wearing a tie, and it's the same as I am today. And of course I was very successful with pedophilia [sic]. I knew about it when I was ten.

Bruce: So you used it consciously?

Karl: Well, I wouldn't go that far. It was impossible to touch me. I would run away and I would tell my mother about people she knew, like the brother of one of my sister's husbands. Nothing happened, but my mother said, "You know, darling, it's your fault. You see how you behave."

For once, words fail us.

6. Karl doesn't vote. Democracy is doomed

Bruce: Politics is just so business-oriented.

Karl: I'm in fashion. Politics is not my job. I don't vote in France even though foreigners here can. I will never vote in my life.

Bruce: I'm the exact same way.

Karl: Good. I could vote for myself because I know everything about myself. And I can lie to everybody, but I cannot lie to myself.

Sorry, can we just go back to that lovely statement by Bruce LaBruce. "Politics is just so business-oriented"? God yes. All that tedious mucking around with taxes, balancing the books, making sure the economy doesn't collapse, etc. So unnecessary, no?

7. Escorts are for the rich, porn is for the poor

I personally only like high-class escorts. I don't like sleeping with people I really love. I don't want to sleep with them because sex cannot last, but affection can last forever. I think this is healthy. And for the way the rich live, this is possible. But the other world, I think they need porn.

8. Karl: eminent sociologist of our time

Bruce: I admire porn actors.

Karl: Me too, and prostitutes as well. There's a real art to it. Frustration is the mother of crime, and so there would be much more crime without prostitutes and without porn movies.

FS drifts off into mental reverie of Polly Toynbee interviewing Karl on same subject.

9. Karl is an idiot savant

Bruce: There's a boy who's 20 years old; you can see him on YouTube. He'd never seen Paris from the air before and they flew him over Paris in a helicopter. Then they took him to a studio and he drew the entire city. Building by building, street by street.

Karl: I can do that with the antique Greek world.

FS says: Really? The ENTIRE Greek world? PROVE IT, Karl.

10. Or maybe we could just drop the savant

Bruce: Did you study Latin at all?

Karl: When I was 10 or 12 years old I could speak Latin like I speak English. But I cannot speak Latin with French people. I don't understand the way they pronounce it. For me, they don't pronounce it right. But I love dead languages. Homer was one of the first books I read when I was starting to read. I think the Iliad is still one of the greatest books in the world

Homer was "one of the first books I read"? FS is ashamed, as we always thought that Homer was a person, not a book. Then again, we also though the Iliad was written in Greek, so what do we know?"

Two weddings

In April, we were back in Perth twice for separate weddings. One was reporter friends, and one was uni friends, which had the added benefit of me being able to wear the same thing to both as there were no friends in common who would have judged me for wearing the same dress twice in one month. Said dress is featured below - it's my WEDDING DRESS! I am really pleased with how it turned out.
R+P's wedding was at Rotto, M+A's wedding was in Freo. Both were lovely, and we enjoyed them immensely. Of course it was excellent to catch up with the two different groups of friends too.
Here are the happy couples... (p.s. How awesome is my leopard clutch??? Em and Muz gave it to me for my birthday. Thanks guys. Love)

Chester

I give you Chester. We looked after him over easter. He's a 12 week old groodle... And as you can see, he's totally adorable. You are welcome.

A long time between drinks

Ok, so it's been a while, and there's been lots of stuff happening since last you heard from me.  Not least of which involves:

- a royal wedding (troth?!)
- iPad (obsessed)
- two new handbags (deeply in love with both)
- two weddings in Perth (very different, but lovely weddings)
- my 30th (Preeeeeeseeeents)
- puppy sitting over Easter (ARGH!!!)

Looking at that list, it's been a pretty awesome month or two...

So, going through that list in order - I was really dark that I was going to be on a plane to Perth for the royal wedding. I checked with model Qantas employee LD, to see if they would be streaming the wedding live - turns out they don't have the capacity to do that on planes - seriously - the things weigh several tons and FLY, you'd think they could get a tv signal. Luckily, my plane was delayed, but excruciatingly so - the last call to board was just as Kate got in her car. I was madly refreshing the Daily Mail's website on my iPad while sitting in my seat while the hosties were telling me they really needed me to turn it off now please. But I got a full length picture just as they were about to escort me off the plane for not listening to them. I tried getting online when we were in the air and it didn't work. I took my iPad to the toilet and felt really naughty. Probably for the best for the well being of the several hundred people I was on the plane with that it didn't work though.

I thought Kate looked nice.  It didn't blow me away.  As I've said several times, they are ostensibly both terrifically boring people, so will be perfect to do whatever it is royals do.  Tara Palmer-Tomkinson was my hands down favourite on the day.  Seriously, bitch brought it big time:

I feel like I've talked about the wedding so much that I've used all my good lines already.  I did immensely enjoy reading the Tom &Lorenzo and Go Fug Yourself wrap ups.  I ache to be friends with the four people responsible for that content.  Call me guys...

So, the iPad.  I've said it several times, but I'm not a technologically proficient person, and not at all into gadgets and that sort of stuff.  But I LOVE my iPad.  It was acquired by work, and not only does it make my working life much easier, it makes PLAY a lot more fun.  We have become obsessed with Words With Friends (I'm MarshieJ if anyone wants to play me), and it's just awesome to have something so quick, light, and easy to just whip out whenever you want to jump on the Internet and find anything out.  I have got a few cool apps, but I think I can do better in this area.  So if you know any awesome apps - tell me!

The bags:
I can't decide which I love more.  I keep changing my mind , depending which one I am carrying on the day.  But there not one ounce of disappointment with either - which was always going to be a risk when purchasing very expensive items without laying eyes on them first.  And a big shout out to DDP and LFT for carting them both back from the UK for me.
Chloe here it butter soft, and quite slouchy (it's stuffed in the pic).  It's a good size - I can carry it over my shoulder, and it's lined in grey velvet.  Because the snakeskin is quite neutral, it's kinda understated, but it also is still snakeskin = don't mess with this bitch.

Smython is a *perfect* work bag.  Sensible with a twist.  Beautiful leather.  And it also fits over the shoulder very nicely.  I really dig on the pleating.  It's subtle, but there is no mistake that this is a beautiful item.  The iPad fits nice and snugly in here too.

Here is me and the hubby at one of the weddings (Rebecca and Paul's at Rotto).  That's MY wedding dress that I had dyed blue.  It was a reasonably arduous and expensive undertaking, and at one stage I thought it was a write off, but it totally worked out well, and I'm stoked with it.
 

I haven't downloaded pics from my camera for a very long time, so I don't have other pics to post, but I will endeavour to do so over the weekend.  I'll post about each of the weddings then.  They deserve their own posts.  As does my 30th, and pictures of Chester the puppy... But I promise you will have them soon.

Royal christening

How seriously AH-MAZE does Mary look in this outfit?  I seriously covet her dress (life).

And wow, how cute is this family??

Also cute that she wore the same headpiece to the chritening of the other two kids too:

Lady porn

This article on lady porn is fantastic, and everyone should read it.

RIP Knut

Everyone knows baby animals are cute, but Knut had to be the epitome of baby animal cuteness.  I have always been a big fan of Knut.  Even more so since I learned of his penchant for croissants, and that he was described as a "psychopath who is addicted to attention".

"Hi guys, I'm Knut."

Tragically, over the weekend, Knut died unexpectedly.  Poor little fella.  There is video of his death online, but I just can't bear to watch it, and don't know why anyone would.  Sure, there are probably lessons to learn about keeping wild animals in captivity and rearing them by hand, but instead, lets just look at the really cute pictures.  RIP Knut.  Hope they've got lots of croissants and people taking pictures of you in polar bear heaven.



p.s. this is Knut on his first day out at Berlin zoo, and then on his first birthday... needless to say, the big guy didn't age so well.  But he was a polar bear rock star who lived fast and died young.

Sophie the Giraffe

I caught up with a friend with a baby recently, and her baby had one of these:

"Hey, my friend Em has one of these for her baby - what a coincidence," I said, to which my friend scoffed and said that EVERYONE with a baby has one of these.  Want to know why?  Well read this really quite interesting article (given the subject is baby toys - something which the childless are generally not that excited to read about).  So it's not because the toy is particularly good at being a toy, but it has snowballed from a couple of cool celebrity endorsements to a mass market phenomena, and parents now feel negligent if they don't have one.  Kind of like the i-pod of chewing toys.

Exclusive clubs

I desperately, madly want to be part of a club like this one day.  So awesome.  World renowned detectives sitting around and solve cold case murders over a good lunch.  I feel the total opposite about this club - each and every member of which I want to slap.  Bratty little rich kids trying to maintain some sort of air of exclusivity with other trust fund-ettes who can't handle the real world.  Their parents have done them no favours.

From the back of the new Smythson catalogue...

Too cute.

Maximum respect

For the oldies in this article who take great relish in eating food they love that the "medical community" say is bad for you.  Their attitudes are truly delightful.  There is something very heartwarming about the smiles on all their faces.  And you know what, if I get that old, I certainly want to feel entitled to eat fried chicken and caramel pie whenever the hell I like.

Natalie Portman

Think Natalie Portman is pretty cool?  Girlfriend is awesome.  On top of that Oscar business, she has studied neuroscience at Harvard, where her teachers loved her, she is a science nerd, and also just spoke out against her commercial interests to blast John Galliano after a vile anti-semetic rant.  She's adorbs.

Devestation

I shouldn't be surprised, because this is Sydney, and if something cool and food related is on, chances are it's not going to be a well kept secret.  The Malaysian food markets were chockers.  A line of several hundred people down the street to get into a little lane way.  But I remained upbeat.  It was only just after 6pm, and we had heaps of time.  I joined the line without hesitating, dreaming of roti, nasi lemak, and rendang, while the more sensible of the two of us asked a security guard how long it was likely to take.  Not a chance we were getting in tonight, the sensible one was told.  Shortly after, my dreams were crushed as a good two thirds of the line were sent away, told that there were too many people and we wouldn't be eating Malaysian tonight.  Mentally, I dropped to my knees wailing, and only managed to not physically do the same.  After a bit of carry on form me, we decided to hotfoot it up to the cinema, where Em had told us the food was good.  It actually turned out really well to do that, because we could reserve our seats, get some nice food (pork with mushy peas and corn on the cob for both of us, and a vanilla pannacotta with peaches for desert), enjoy a bottle of wine and look at the SPECTACULAR view.  Naturally, I didn't bring my camera to capture any of this, but it was amazing.  It's so well done and I can see why everyone raves about it.  We really loved it.  And we had a perfect night for it too.  It was so warm that I didn't even need to put a cardi on over my dress when it got dark.  It's totally an iconic Sydney thing to do, and I'm really pleased we did it.  We've resolved to try and get tickets every year from now on.

Malaysian noodle markets

I deeply love Malaysian food.  I get way more excited about eating it than say Indian (too heavy), Thai (all a bit the same), Indonesian (pretty good really) or Vietnamese food (not enough saucy stuff).  Even Chinese food (which I'm not going to criticise, that would be wrong.  Although I didn't need to see The Biggest Loser last night saying how many calories was ).  It kind of feels like a mix of the best of all of these things.  And there's roti.  Which when done well drives me to levels of frenzied excitement.  We went to the night noodle markets in Hyde Park earlier this year, and made a beeline for Jackie M's stall.  Had amazing roti, rendang (my favourite curry), and gado gado.  I think a chicken curry too.  All amazing.
Imagine my joy when reading about the Malaysia Kitchen Food Market.  We are heading there tonight, and I am really excited.  Just this picture made me want to fall off my chair into a pile of drool.  It doesn't help that I'm already starving, but seriously... YUM!!

And afterwards I have tickets to the open air cinema at Mrs Macquarie's Chair.  It's a total Sydney institution, and we've never got tickets before - mainly because for a few years I just didn't believe that the entire season sells out within an hour of going on sale - it does.  By all accounts, it's totally magic.  The screen is out over the water, and you have the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the background.

And then we go home to our visitors from Perth, Benno and Sasch, who are staying for what is shaping up to be an epic weekend of Sydney show and tell!

Happy valentines day

What could be more romantic than a short clip of videos of dogs trained to make noises disturbingly similar to "I love you".  Awesome
http://deadspin.com/#!5760394/heres-a-video-of-dogs-saying-i-love-you
p.s. where is my heart shaped baloon, husband?

Athletic results

So, we got through it.  On the hottest day on record in Sydney, we ran a 7km race.  When we got up at 5.30 to get to the run it was already 27 degrees.  Unsurprisingly, it didn't get any better once the sun came up.  Nor did it get better when we missed the start of the race and had to battle through the prams and walkers.  The very hilly course and lack of shade topped it all off.  I was smashed at the end.  That run was hard.  Really bloody hard.  But we did it.  Me in a rather slow 39.09 (which works out at 6 minute k's, when I know I can do 5.30 k's), placing me 311th in my age group.  I didn't throw up and I didn't collapse.  So I feel like a winner.  My only regret is not having the energy to get up to chide some f*ckwit standing by the finishing line smoking.
Conditions were far more suited to the swim the next day.  And very conveniently, we were staying in a hotel in Manly, and slept with an air conditioner on all night, when we would have otherwise roasted at home.  Campari, riesling and veal steaks by the beach is how all athletes prepare for races right? 
J-Mo did his 1k swim at 9am, and my 2k wave started at 11, so we had a bit of waiting around, but I can think of worse places to be than waiting on the beach on a hot day.
Like last year, my strategy was to try and start at the front of the pack, get scrappy, and get out in front of the crowd to avoid the blender of bodies that inevitably forms at the start of one of these things.  All of these things I achieved.  I hurt far more people than they hurt me.  I veered off course pretty dramatically at one stage, and didn't find as many people to swim in the wake of as I did last year, but it was nice to be out in the water.  Finish time 38.37, placing me 30th in my age group.

And I am feeling all kinds of soreness after those efforts.  And therefore perfectly validated in going off to get a massage.

Like counting cards, but with scratchie tickets

This is fascinating.  A mathematician has cracked the algorithms for some scratchies.  And Lotto organisers aren't on top of it.  But organised crime appears to be.
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/01/ff_lottery/all/1

This is really adorable

Photos that LGBT men and women have submitted of themselves as children which show the beginnings of their incinations.  Very cute.
http://borngaybornthisway.blogspot.com/

Athletic weekend

Last year we did the Cole Classic, and quiet enjoyed it, so this year we are going back for more.  The Cole creators have also created a new (as in the first time they've run it) run the day before.  Both are on at Manly, and we are staying the night on Saturday night to truly get into the vibe.  Naturally, Sydney is in the middle of a heatwave and there is a cyclone above Queensland, so we are scheduled for a minumim temperature of 25 degrees tonight (we run tomorrow morning) and then "difficult" surf conditions and rain on Sunday.  But I guess that's part of the fun of doing these things, you have to battle through somewhat less than ideal conditions.  I have been trying to bust a gut (literally) with excercise this year, but have been mixing it up a lot, so haven't done as much running or swimming as I'd like, so I'm not feeling totally prepared.  I know I can do the distances, but I just don't think I will be doing them in the best time possible.  But that's fine.  I will keep you posted on our form!

Mini-break

Early in the year, J-Mo booked us a five day getaway here.  It's just over the Qld border, and we thought it looked marvelous.  It ticked all our boxes - nice view, isolated, quiet, close to wine and food, and very importantly, our own kitchen to cook in.  "So we'll be flying?" I asked.  "No," he answered. 
Now, J-Mo and I are fond of a road trip.  I tend to fall asleep and provide entertaining banter, while he drives the whole time.  So clearly I get the better end of the deal there.
Despite my concerns about floods, swept away roads, and school holiday traffic, it was actually a remarkably easy drive (keep in mind I only drove about two hours out of nine).  Jamie also agrees with that assessment though.  It was a lovely spot.  While Qld isn't typically associated with wine, there were a lot of wineries around us, and they were very uncommercialised.  As LFT said, the place hadn't been overrun by women in linen pants.  Aside from wineries, we visited a cidery, cheese factory, Italian deli (for some reason they have a store bigger than the Re store in the middle of a country town - go figure) and the Tamworth Country Music festival!  We did only stop for lunch, but you could tell something big was happening.
So the accoms at Azjure were lovely.  The owners have clearly thought very hard about anything and everything you could possibly need and were very nice and helpful.  We spent a lot of time just hanging out on the deck, reading, watching TV, drinking wine, pottering, and watching the sun set.  There were a group of five kangaroos that came and said hi every night.  It was very relaxing and pleasant.  I think it's only when you get away from the noise and confined spaces of inner city living that you realise how noisy and cramped it is, and it was good to get a bit of a sense of space again.  It was also good to get away for a bit after spending Christmas in Sydney.  Jamie smashed out the drive home on Australia Day while I consumed diet Bundaberg ginger beer (my new obsession).  Pics to follow.

The evil twin won.

Just. Purchased.
Thank you in advance to all the parties that are making it possible to get it to me.  God speed.

Eating happy meat

In this article, a former vegetarian argues that by "opting in" to eating organic, happy meat, you do far more to help stamp out cruelty, hormones, and antibiotics, than you do by being vegetarian.  I like her argument.  And I for one am happy to pay more for meat I know has been treated well.

Kitchen tools that change your life

There are few things that I'd absolutely endorse as life changers in the kitchen, bit Microplane graters are one of them.  I have two in fact - fine and medium, and they are both in heavy use.  I was fascinated to read that they started out as carpentry tools, and the founders were totally pissed off when they heard people were using them in the kitchen.  Now they've embraced the kitchen uses, and are also making useful things such as surgical tools that grind bone.  Seriously, if you haven't tried one of these, you need to.  It will change your life, I promise.

J'adore this family portrait of the Danish royals

Princess Isabella looks like she's full of sass, and Mary looks amazing (wearing her wedding tiara - hey, I'd clean in it if I had a real tiara).  And for a peek at the recently renovated palace, soon to welcome new twins home, click here!

December in pictures

I'm not a crafty or creative person by ANY means, but this is just about the best thing I've ever made that I can't eat.  Three Christmases ago, I spent HOURS cutting out christmas shapes (I had to trace them, it wasn't anything remotely as talented as drawing) and strung them up across our doorways and windows.  I think they look great, and they came out again for a showing this year.

I somehow managed to talk Jamie into stopping into a Christmas shop on the way home from Dan Murphy's in early December.  These bows caught my eye immediately, and have adorned our front door since.  I'd kind of like to permanently keep them there.... so pretty.

 We went to Eveleigh farmers markets with our special weekend friend, and had a great time.  I like these markets, and they are on every weekend.

 Plus they are under cover, so perfect for miserable days.

We went to Perth to surprise Drew for his housewarming (Liam knew).  Unsurprisingly, the Christmas tree was large, beautiful, and had lots of presents underneath it.

 Our own Christmas tree was not so large.  But we had lots of pressies under it, which made it look great.

 It was our wedding anniversary.  The second wedding anniversary is cotton, so we got a canvas with this fun kitchen print stretched - brocooli! green bits! and it now hangs in the kitchen.  The orange print with bulls that used to be in the kitchen is now in the living room.

 We had Christmas at the Wheaters.  Ham, turkey, stuffing, sides. All delicious.  Meat from Hudsons, and they did a great job.

 The Wheater family were great hosts.  And Bunny is getting cuter by the day.  She wore an outfit that mum bought for her before she was even born!  So crazy to think of Em showing me the outfit before anyone had even met Bunny.

And, then, quicker than you can blink an eye, the year was over.  We celebrated with four kinds of cheeses, left over ham, pate and champagne on the back deck.  Finished off season three of Mad Men, and went to bed before midnight.  And unlike Christmas Day, I didn't end up on the street in my pyjamas at two in the morning yelling at drunks who live across the road.  So it was our perfect kind of new years.  Just so I could feel smug all day, and say things like "start the year as you intend to continue it" I was up early this morning, and went for a run.  Happy new year everyone. x