A little bit of inward learning

As I grow up, I realise the best way to learn about who you are, what your limits are and what you like and don't like, is to put yourself in unfamiliar situations. To push yourself so it feels a bit uncomfortable, like a patch of sunburn or a caramel milkshake when you really wanted chocolate.

Walk a new path, date a new dude, move cities if you have to, so long as you can glean even an itsy bitsy piece of new information about yourself, then it's worthwhile. 

For me, the quest for unfamiliarity and a bit of discomfort drove flew me almost 17,000 kilometres, to the other side of the world. In December 2013 I packed up my entire life, left my job, farewelled my friends and family, and hopped on a plane bound for London. Cue cliche.
Let's be honest, I am not the first and by no means the last Antipodean to have ventured to the mother country. It's not overly remarkable, it's not a new language. But it's been a challenge, nonetheless.

The most interesting thing I've grappled with over the six months since I've been away is adjusting from my routine, and comforts, and realising that although the UK has the same language, a similar culture and a busy city just like home, it's a world apart. 

For starters, when I arrived I was sans job, sans home, sans (many) friends... the odds were definitely in my favour. I was what you call a catch. My first few months living in London consisted of staying on friends' couches - over six weeks I lived in six different places. And work was tough. Without British media experience I wasn't having success in my preferred field, so I swallowed some pride and decided to turn my hand at temp administration. Earning a pittance and doing the most mundane of tasks, it was a great learning experience. Admin was definitely not my passsion. How lucky I was that I had already found a career that actually satisfied and nourished me, and that I at least knew what I wanted to be doing, even if I wasn't quite there yet. 

Not having many possessions, limited by a 23KG suitcase, I learnt that I had been pretty superficial in the past. Shellac each fortnight, massages, an obsession with triple-milled soy candles... you get the gist. When earning 8 quid an hour, your priorities quickly change. No longer can you justify that incredible eyelash extending mascara that costs four hours of pay. And a zone 1-3 travel card seems like a luxury. On the other hand, a 15 pound cocktail has never tasted so good. Because that's the equivalent of two hours answering phones. 

Celebrating Australia day with one of my Aussie friends in London

In the past few months I've been lucky enough to have found a great house living in Battersea, near a beautiful park and not far from the well known The Kings Road, Chelsea. I have a job working in Communications, and I now also have a bf, which I didn't expect when I arrived here in January. All of which are offering pretty meaty learning opportunities. 

It does beg the question though; surely you don't have to travel half-way around the world to learn about yourself. Relationships, new jobs, your family; they all teach you different things. And the best lessons are the ones you're not expecting. The ones where you're not quite sure how you'll get yourself out of a mess, or where your friendship or relationship might go next. The best snippets of understanding are those that are completely unexpected, but leave you with another page to add to your very own encyclopaedia of lessons about yourself. 

Glebe Fair 2012

Do you ever have a longing to explore or roam by yourself? To discover things you never knew about the very city you live in?

Glebe Fair

I am always astounded when I talk to friends who mention places or events they've visited and that i've never heard of. It's so easy to become arrogant and to assume you know your surrounds - in my case, Sydney,- when in fact, there's always more to discover.

Perusing Sydney's events sites this morning when deciding how to spend a yet-unplanned day, I stumbled upon Glebe Fair. Glebe has always been a rather mysterious place for me; one I've only rarely visited. Though each time I've been, i've enjoyed the alternative, student-y feel and the great antiques and vintage shops. 'THIS will be worth a visit!' I thought, and fortunately I was right.

The Glebe Fair has been running in its current form since 1984 (a whopping 28 years for those who are mathematically challenged) and the turnout for this year's event was expected to reach 100,000. The fair features a diverse range of stalls from commercial business stalls to food stalls with an impressive selection of international cuisines including paella, gozleme, kransky sausage, potato chip skewers, handmade fruit paddlepops, freshly made lemonade and much more. Unfortunately i'd had breakfast at home, so I stuck to a delicious soy latte, but would definitely recommend tasting these wonders next time!

In addition to the food and commercial stalls, there were charitable stalls, clothing and jewelry stalls and some extraordinary craft stalls with stunning paintings and photos, a beautiful Australian timber stall with incredible tables and bread boards, a magic show, and an 'electric cigarette stall', but to be honest although I was curious, everyone seemed to bypass this stall and for fear of association, I didn't satiate my curiosity. So if anyone knows that electric cigarettes do, please don't hesitate to fill me in.

One stall that did grab my attention was an alternative stall with tarot readings and lots ands lots of tie-dye. I ended up having a quick reading done and chose the 'Page of Air'. Apparently I have many choices ahead of me in my immediate future, but now is not the right time to make any big decisions. I need to list all my options on a page, and choose whichever option makes me feel most happy. I also have lots of anxiety in my stomach at the moment apparently; definitely some interesting insights there.

My 'Page of Air' card

Along my meanderings I was intrigued by a man from a group called 'Sprinkles Secret Walls', who was graffiti-ing onto a large board. I watched him for some time and he was very thoughtful in the way he worked. While I watched on he created the head of what I interpreted to be either a wolf or a dog. Such a privilege to watch someone developing their art. I also enjoyed a particular stall where the stall holder created jewelry out of old postage stamps from across the globe. Some of her stamps dated back to the 60s and 70s, and had been transformed into charm bracelets, pendants and cufflinks. A beautiful idea that was well executed. I have never before seen anything like this.

Mr Graffiti Guy

There were also some political activist groups with stalls, one group had created an installation of chairs in a circle, with the words 'common ground' etched onto the road. Unfortunately I'm not too sure what they were campaigning for, but I did enjoy the installation nonetheless.

The unusual art installation

I then stumbled upon a great little antiques shop which also held a clothing boutique and a florist within it. It had a great feel to it; as though you had been sucked back in time to the 60s or 70s, with suitcase tables and old-fashioned leather lounges a-plenty, and that dank smell that somehow is more alluring than repugnant.

To have the luxury of time and freedom to be able to wander and muse, to soak in the sun and to have nowhere important to be was exquisite. Do tell me, do you like spending time on your own, or would you rather explore with friends? And do you ever feel like you're only just discovering your city for the first time?

A place to call my own

In January I moved out of my childhood home and into a nice little two-bedroom apartment close to work with my good friend.

Having spent so long away from home, traveling and being totally independent, there was little chance I would be living at home for too long. Despite having a great relationship with my family, I had to lay my own foundations in my own place. And I wanted to be closer to work.

Our living room

Five months (almost) on, living out of home is still great. It's novel having to pay rent each month and having to remember to pick up groceries as they don't just appear (as great as that would be). Being a bit of a neat freak, keeping the house clean and tidy isn't too bad either. The difficult part is the slow gathering of furniture. We still have no TV stand and are in desperate need of some art to brighten up the bare white walls. A rug might be a good idea, oh and a heater, because it's getting pretty cold as Winter nears.

The kitchen

Despite all of that, there's something so rewarding about arriving home to a clean, airy apartment that we've built up with our own taste of furnishings, that we're paying for with our own salaries. Best of all, those jobs have been landed having slogged it out through 13 years of school and three years of uni.

But what's next? Unexpectedly, it's all about what happens now that I've got this place. For the first time there isn't a logical next step. It was; finish school, schoolies, go to uni, finish uni, go traveling, get a job, move out. And those goals have now all been achieved. So working out where to from here is a challenge.

My bedroom

For the next 40 years, work is on the agenda, and luckily I love my field of work. But I need some splashes of colour that intertwine with being a responsible adult. Travel, definitely. And maybe some volunteering, some hobbies to learn (I'm thinking ceroc dancing, some cooking classes, maybe some art?). Exercise is a given and, having signed up to do Tough Mudder later in the year, training is an important part of life. But I want to know, how do you keep your life interesting outside of work?

Happy New Year 2012

If you haven't seen this video yet, I strongly recommend you check it out. It's a summary of the biggest events of 2011, compiled by Google Zeitgeist. Enjoy the video, I hope that 2012 is even better for you than 2011 was!

At the beginning of last year I had a million travel plans and 10 months to fit them into. I also had a goal to complete a ski season and return to Australia and find a job using my Communications degree by the end of the year. Funnily enough, I achieved all that I set out to in 2011... and I was exhausted (but satisfied) at the end of it. So  when asked myself what my resolutions for 2012 might be, I realised that although I could up the ante on my goals for 2012, I'm not sure that's the best way to make me happy.

I'm learning that it's important I don't wish my life away by constantly setting and reassessing goals and, in so doing, failing to enjoy living in the 'now'. So this year I am setting just one singular goal, which is to move out of home. Achievable (I think!). I will make 2012 a year of being content and making the 'now' the best it can be. I might decide to dabble in some french classes at the Alliance Francaise, or maybe do a community college cooking course. No matter the activity, I'm conscious that I don't just live to work, and that I enjoy my free time! I guess that's my resolution for 2012. Happy New Year.

What I'm listening to...

Absolutely loving listening to The Jezabels at the moment. Their album Prisoner is incredible, but their EP Easy to Love never gets old. 

Also have to express my love for The Naked and Famous. Every one of their songs is catchy, Summery and extraordinary. This one's my favourite though.

What are you listening to at the moment?

Amazing Marketing Campaigns of 2011

Since I started my new job my interest in  marketing and more specifically in amazing experiential campaigns has been piqued.

I recently looked at the top 10 campaigns of 2011, put together by Marketing Mag: http://www.marketingmag.com.au/news/top10-experiential-campaigns-of-2011-8329/. Let me assure you, it makes for compulsive viewing! I spent a good hour reading this post, amazed by how creative people can be and just how much potential there is to create innovative, exciting and remarkable campaigns.

One of my favourite campaigns from the list is this campaign by Carlsberg. I think it's cheeky and makes you laugh. Importantly though, I'm not sure I come away from it resoundingly confident that it is a Carlsberg ad. It's more entertaining than pushing brand awareness.

I also really liked the way Corona moved away from advertising their product and closer toward environmental responsibility. The fit between the brand (which is renowned as being part of summer and beach culture) and the environment is extremely tight, and I think that is why this campaign works so well. In knowing that Corona has an environmental responsibility and is investing in the well-being of the planet makes me like the brand so much more. Here's the Corona Save the Beach campaign.

And lastly, I really loved the Coca-Cola Happiness campaign. It is fun, unusual and it keeps you guessing. Videos of Coca-Cola being handed out in surprising ways, for example via the vending machine in the video below, or being given out using a bespoke Coca-Cola truck is absolutely brilliant. After all, who doesn't like free Coke? This campaign makes me smile and its talkability is huge. Love it!

Have you seen any great campaigns lately that have made you smile, or even better, have made you desperate to buy something?

Interior Decorating

Photo from Absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com

As you get older, the desire to create your own home or sanctuary, filled with your own pieces and decorated in your own personal taste becomes stronger and stronger.

I really enjoy the idea of being a home-maker. It's not to say that I would choose to be a stay-at-home Mum, but there is certainly a satisfaction in coming home to somewhere that feels safe, comfortable and completely 'you'.

So with my interest in interior decoration developing and my crazy passion for cookery books and Vogue Living style magazines, I guess you could say it's quite lucky I'm going to be moving out of home soon. My friend and I are aiming to move in together in January. We hope to live close to the Harbour Bridge - somewhere near Kirribilli or MacMahons Point. Sure we've both lived away from home before. In fact, we've both lived together before; we were Boarding Residents at the same school - so we know we'll have no problems getting along. But what we haven't done before is to create our own home to our own tastes with our own furniture.

And at this point I would like to introduce some of the blogs that I have recently discovered which are feeding my hunger for incredible interior decorating of our prospective home.

The first blog is called The Interiors Addict. It is amass with interviews by interior designers and decorators with incredible style and design flair. The photos are beautiful and while the furniture is probably well beyond my current first-home budget, I definitely take away lots of ideas from the blog.

The second blog is called Absolutely Beautiful Things and it's blogger, Anna Spiro, selects the most gorgeous, pretty and vibrant photos. It is totally inspiring.

A Stuart Membery sofa, decorated by Anna Spiro,
photo from her blog absolutelybeautifulthings.blogspot.com

The only concern I have about home-decorating is my fear of colour. If you commit to one colour scheme for a room, how long until you tire of it and need a change? Is it not better to add a splash of colour through pillows and throws, paintings and vases, and to stick to a neutral palate base? Clearly these kinds of worries are first world problems. I should be satisfied by the fact that I have a roof over my head and the ability to choose the colours of my walls. I totally get that and I am definitely wary that  this obsession with home decorating is superficial, but it sure is fun.

What colour could you never live with in your house?

Freshly Baked Bread

L-R: Blueberry bread and Olive, Rock Salt and Oregano Bread

Bread is one of those evil but delicious things that you shouldn't really eat too much of, but every time you're presented with a slice of beautiful artisan made loaf, you really can't resist. My favourite is a freshly baked olive bread with a bit of real butter. Yummo!

Today I was lucky enough to visit the Masterchef Live show as I had been given complimentary tickets. I didn't really know what to expect, but as Masterchef fans, I decided to bring my Mum along with me to check it out.

Held at the Horden Pavilion, the exhibition was enormous and covered two huge halls. There were demonstrations, cooking classes, exhibitors with stalls and pop-up cafes. Mum and I have never turned our hands at bread baking before, so we couldn't go past the Brasserie Bread bread-making course. I've made about a million cupcakes, slices and cakes, but bread has always been something I'm a bit scared of making - it seems fiddly and volatile. Under the amazing guidance of our baker Matt Brock, we spent an hour developing our bakery skills. The queues at the exhibition were ridiculous and we had to wait for an hour and a bit in order to get into this hands-on cooking demo, but it was definitely worth it!

The result of our bread-making course is the above photo, which took us an hour of kneading and 'throwing' the bread onto the table. It actually doesn't need any complicated ingredients, it just takes a while to work the bread and then let it rest. You're supposed to work the bread for two minutes, then let it rest for two minutes and continue that process for a total of 24 minutes. It's a really good way to let some aggression out, as the more ever the air you put into the bread, the more light and fluffy the bread will be. 

Apart from the cooking course we also watched a show; a cook-off between George Colombaris' sous-chef, called Josh, and Season Three Masterchef contestant Hayden Quinn. Hosted by George himself, the two competitors went head-to-head in a 'Mystery Box Challenge', with their key ingredients being a tomato, an avocado, a piece of sashimi-grade Tuna, some quail eggs and some asparagus. Both chefs managed to produce a really delicious looking starter in under seven minutes. That's pretty impressive - it usually takes me about seven minutes just to decide what I want to cook. Hayden put together a carpaccio with a spicy mayonnaise and an asian-style vinaigrette. Josh created an avocado puree with cubes of tuna and poached quail eggs. The son of Giovanni Pilu - owner of Pilu in Freshwater - was the judge and he chose Hayden as the clear winner. The show was actually being recorded to then be aired on TV, so there were production and camera crews everywhere. The Masterchef Katy Perry theme song played and it was just as if you were watching the show at home... although I guess that's probably why they decided to name the event Masterchef Live.


It was a great event - although there were possibly too many people - and to see some of my cooking idols, such as Kylie Kwong, Gary Mehigan and Giovanni Pilu in the flesh was very cool.

Nailing It.

Shellac nail polish

At the risk of sounding really vacuous, I think I'd like to write about nail polish. There's a lot of meaning attached to the whole nail-painting process. In my house it has always been associated with being overly indulgent. Something reserved for ladies of leisure. You see, whenever any chore or task hadn't been done, for example if dinner hadn't been cooked, my Mum would say "Geez it's not like I've been swanning around painting my nails!" Because of that, I now associate having my nails painted as being a bit of a guilty act - something I can't admit to doing or enjoying for fear of being labelled as lazy. Another gem is that if your nail polish lasts a long time then you're probably not doing enough chores around the house. For if you were doing lots of washing-up and sweeping, vacuuming, washing etc, your nail polish would chip within a few days. And at school we were always told that if you had chipped nail polish it meant you weren't looking after your appearance. "Chipped nails are for tramps," we learnt. Who would have thought a tiny little bottle full of colourful paint could bring with it so many negative connotations?

So today, when I decided to go to my local nail bar to try out the latest fad in nail laquer, Shellac, I was feeling a little bit naughty. All my friends have been raving about how 'you really just have to try Shellac - it's like you've got fake nails - the polish just won't chip.' Well all that sounds pretty good, but then it's also about double the price of a regular manicure. My curiosity got the better of me so I was happy to pay the $35 to give it a go.

The process took about half an hour and I had four coats of Shellac - a base coat, two coats of my colour of choice, and then a top coat - applied. In between each coat of paint I had to place my hand under a special UV light which dried the polish instantly.

My Shellac-coated nails

What makes Shellac so special is that takes no time to dry and you get no chips or nicks in it. It takes about 10 minutes to remove, but it will last for two weeks. The only problem with it is that they don't have a massive selection of different colours to choose from yet. I opted for a pink neutral colour and my nail technician told me that the colour I had chosen was their most popular. If you were going to an event and you wanted your nails a certain colour, you'd potentially be stuck with the shade for two weeks. Woah, now there's a first world problem if ever you heard one.

I only had my nails painted today, so I'll have to see how long it will last. What with all the housework and chores that I do... let's be honest, it's definitely going to last two weeks.

Fabulous Florence

In May 2011 I visited Florence with my Mum, spending four days in the glorious city. For those of you that are yet to travel to Florence, you have lots to look forward to; for those that have already visited it, prepare to reminisce. 

The view from our hotel roof

We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Scaletta, and were greeted by friendly staff and a stunning rooftop view over the city and the Boboli Gardens nearby.  The hotel was also conveniently located an easy five minute stroll from the glorious Ponte Vecchio, famous for its gold and silver jewellery shops.

The much-celebrated Ponte Vecchio

As soon as I dumped my suitcase I was well and truly ready to explore the city, so I left Mum (who has having some quiet time) and did a little reconnaissance, seeing some fantastic things along the way.

I happened to stumble across these guys, who were created amazing artworks using chalk, on the pavements outside the shops along one of the many walkways. The next day I saw another couple doing the same thing in another area of the city. 

After finding my way around I headed back to the hotel and Mum and I went off to find a nice place for dinner. We settled on a really traditional (and less touristy) looking place a few minutes from our hotel, with a great Maitre D' who you can see below with a tray of freshly picked 'funghi' (or mushrooms) which were the feature of their special, a Risotto Al Funghi. 

The lovely Maitre D' who served us on two nights

In true Italian style I opted for a delicious vegetable pizza while Mum chose the risotto. Both meals were great and the portions were huge. We were also served hot freshly-baked olive bread with olive oil and balsamic.

Freshly made olive bread

And why stop when you're onto a good thing? We liked this restaurant so much that on our last night in Florence we came back to enjoy the Caprese salad, which is a simple but delicious tomato, mozzarella and basil salad.

Enjoying our Italian meal

Once we'd finished our meal we decided to walk it off with a meander along the Ponte Vecchio and a stroll along the banks of the Arno river.

The view of the Ponte Vecchio at sunset

The Arno river

The next morning we made it our challenge to climb to the top of the Duomo for a spectacular view over the city. This is the outside of the Duomo - how impressive!

Duomo

 If you have claustrophobia I probably wouldn't recommend going to the top; I don't get claustrophobic too often but I felt a bit trapped walking up the narrow corridors that wind around the outside of the Duomo. But it was well worth it... And here is the view from the top.

The view of Florence from the Duomo

And after a big climb we were ready for some sustenance. We decided to visit the San Lorenzo markets where we found a huge selection of meats (lots of prosciutto), cheeses, pastas, biscotti, fruits and vegetables. We bought a mild cheese, some delicious straberries, some chocolate and almond biscotti and some prosciutto and found a nice area with some benches where we enjoyed our market produce.

Our wonderful deli-hand who gave us the best prosciutto

And then it was time to shop. Florence is renowned for its leather goods, so we couldn't pass up an opportunity to see the best leather in the world. After several hours we returned to the hotel with a handbag, a pair of shoes, a belt and two pairs of leather gloves, and a glint of concern about how we might fit everything into our suitcases.

The San Lorenzo markets

On our final day in Florence we visited the beautiful Boboli Gardens and the Porcelain museum.
These gardens are absolutely stunning, serene, and at the top of the gardens there is an amazing view into rural Tuscany.

The porcelain museum inside the Boboli Gardens

Included in our ticket to the gardens was entry to the Costume Gallery, which is located inside the Pitti Palace. The exhibition displayed garments from the 16th to the 20th century by well-known designers.

For me, Florence is one of those magical cities you don't expect to find in reality. It is charming, cultured and enchanting. Particularly given that I was able to experience this wonderful city with my beautiful Mum beside me, it will always be one of my favourite cities in Europe.