Cocina de Mama Recipe eBook

I'm pretty lucky to know two fantastic women who have published cooking ebooks recently. Last week I showed you Tori's book and this week I show you Leticia's Argentine cookbook, drawn from her beautiful Mum's recipes, and many of her own, too.
Neither will disappoint you, and both can be bought together for less than a cup of coffee! Do it: your tummy with thank you :)

L.A.

Over Easter I snuck over to L.A. with the Pal. It's a long story why, but in a nutshell, he's working in NYC for a bit, and we thought we'd catch up somewhere sunny and a direct plane flight away for both of us. (Not that long a story, as it turns out!).  We had an amazing time - and I wanted to share these lovely pics of the Viceroy Hotel. It was terribly pretty. 

Henna

Photo by our friend Mark

When we were in Dubai, we attended one of my bestie's wedding. He married a lovely British-Indian woman and we all wore saris and had hennaed hands. (I'm the one with the red bangles). It was a most wonderful three days of celebration.

Our Wedding #7: Dancing and Party Times

Well it's one thing to have a good time at your own wedding, but we were so delighted that everyone else seemed to have an amazing time, too!

We borrowed this frame from some friends - it was sitting unused in their basement! - and it became such a great prop. Instead of shying away from the camera, guests were lining up to have their photos taken!

We also had a few chalkboards about for guests to write us messages - they were amazing!

Nothing says I'm having a good time like a sweat-soaked shirt on the dance floor. These last six photos were taken by my most excellent cousin Sarah (she of the purple flower hat below). Thank you muchly, my dear - they are perfect!

Details:

Our brilliant photographers are Jen and Justin Roberts - they are not only wonderful people, but as you can see, phenomenal photographers.

This is the last post in a series chronicling our wedding, which took place on the 23rd October, 2010. Thank you so much for reading and commenting xx

Wedding Photos

Yes, oh internet. I have been holding out on you with wedding photos. It is for the very good reason that it is going to be featured on another blog! So it's coming up, and I'll re-post here. So hold your breath - many photos are coming!

Wishing you all a wonderful and fulfilling 2011!

First Wedding Present

My lovely sister came over on the weekend to give the Pal and I our first wedding present. We had no idea what this might be, but the thought of taking a short break from doing seating arrangements (!!!) was so delightful that we welcomed her with open arms. Em has also been an incredible support in the lead up: she knows I'm working a lot and just manages to be helpful in a very seamless and non-pressure way.

And we were blown away. Em knows how much I love these old railway posters, and made one for us which chronicles some of our adventures from our first date to our wedding day. It's not only a stunning piece of art, but I catch myself looking at it with dreamy, faraway eyes, remembering how far we've come, and all the adventures to come.

Thank you Em - we couldn't love it, more.

Beached Az: Pelican

It's been a while since I wrote about Beached Az - the very clever mini animation series by some of my close friends. This episode, with a flamboyant and fickle pelican, is one of my all-time favourites.

Lorne Times

We had a great weekend down in Lorne - what a special place! Wonderful company, amazing food, perfect wanderings and fours-seasons-in-one-day weather. Spectacular!

Happily, I found this beautiful mural by Ghost Patrol (eee!) and lots of cool ninja stencils everywhere - impressive, my Lorne friends!

The first panorama by The Pal and the rest by me.

Saturday Morning Brunch

A close friend's farewell was even lovelier with yummy, yummy pastries. So. Good.

Appendage: Emily Hunt

I have written before of how much I love Emily's work, but last week I was lucky enough to visit her first solo exhibition at metalab in Surry Hills. Called 'Appendage', it is full of incredible pieces which look like parts of the body, coral, and at times, tribal necklaces.
This piece (above) was my favourite: it is made from silicon, thread and beads and it took over five weeks to sew the beads and to wrap the thread over the silicon base. Breathtaking in real life: this photo just doesn't do it justice.

Beautiful work, Em - I am speechless!

All images

Over the Top

I've been very lucky to receive this lovely award from Jess at Are You Hungary? Thanks Jess! I, too, share Jess' paranoia about answering these things, so I'll give it my best attempt.

1. Where is your cell phone? Sitting next to me, playing my newest favourite podcast on loudspeaker, (A History of the World in 100 Objects, if you must know!).

2. You hair? Bed-head.

3. Your mother? Incredible.

4. Your father? Eccentric but loveable.

5. Your favourite food? A toss up between gelato and vegemite and cheese on toast. I'm a simple girl.

6. Your dream last night: scary rockclimbing with my family.

7. Your favourite drink? lime cordial or milo with milk.

8. Your dream/goal? To be happy and to make others around me happy.

9. What room are you in? The study/craft room/spare room.

10. Your hobby? Crafting, writing, quilting, photography, reading, letter-writing, walking, listening to podcasts etc.

11. Your fear? Rectangles.

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Six years older and happier.

13. Where were you last night? Food shopping, cooking and eating.

14. Something you aren't? Patient.

15. Muffins? Gluten-free choc chip.

16. Wish list item? A brightly coloured satchel.

17. Where did you grow up? Sydney, Australia.

18. Last thing you did? Ate breakfast. (Toast with rosehip jam and a bowl of strawberry yoghurt).

19. What are you wearing? To be honest? Pyjamas.

20. Your TV? Brand new - the Pal went crazy and bought a big 'un.

21. Your pets? My mint potplant on my kitchen window sill.

22. Friends? Thankfully many.

23. Your life? Busy.

24. Your mood? Distracted.

25. Missing someone? My sister in the UK.

26. Vehicle? Yup.

27. Something you're not wearing? A velvet beret. (And thank goodness for that!).

28. Your favourite store? I've taken a recent shine to Thomas Dux for fruit and vegies.

29. Your favourite colour? I'm loving purple at the moment, but that'll probably change.

30. When was the last time you laughed? This morning.

31. Last time you cried? Last week.

32. Your best friend? So many - so lucky.

33. One place you go to over and over? Balmoral Beach.

34. One person who emails you regularly? A forward young gentleman who likes to talk about viagra and selling it to me.

35. Favourite place to eat? My Mum and Dad's dinner table.

As usual, the quiz requires me to pass it along to some other people. Instead, I will say "consider yourself tagged" and answer the quiz on your own blog!

Real Weddings December 2009

Well this is just super exciting! Last April, I was lucky enough to attend the wedding of one of my loveliest friends, Alice. An absolutely incredibly experience: such a perfect ceremony and reception where we met so many special people. So lovely, in fact, that I doubted a photographer could ever capture the gentle light, the excited smiles and the sheer deliciousness of the bride, groom and bridal party. But they have! And lovely Alice graces the cover of the December 2009 issue of Real Weddings (they really are real!!) Isn't she just radiant? Have a look here for some more beautiful shots: I'll be over here wiping the tear from my eye. (The story about the kiss is my favourite).

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Hunter Valley

Some shots from the Hunter Valley. These wallabies came near our villa as evening fell on the last night - the one on the right has a joey in her pouch!
Very green and relaxing - a lovely way to spend the week with the Pal.

Oman

Sunset, looking over the hotel's private beach.

Well, I'm home after a few weeks of different adventures, and despite the heat, it's so nice to be back!

Oman was a crazy and very surreal trip: I was only away for a week and so only got a small taste of the country, but it was just long enough for my head to believe I was away from my thesis. Hurrah! Spent some glorious time pool-side, which felt like a dream. For some more of my photos, have a look at my Flickr stream.

Will post some more photos of my last week in the Hunter Valley over the next few days!

Darien's Birthday Quilt

My friend Darien turns 30 tomorrow, and came out from the UK to celebrate with her identical twin! I knew that Darien's lounge room has lots of blues and reds in it, and that she loves all things handmade, so I made this quilt for her to snuggle with in Manchester.

I had some hesitations about making a gift: what if she hated it? And what if all my other friends who read this think, 'I hope she doesn't make one for me one day!' So tell me, dear readers, what are your thoughts on handmade gifts? (For the record, I love them...)
This new little label is made from one of my handmade stamps, and might be a recurring feature on my quilts. Now, to get to the huge quilt backlog!

Sneak Peek: Quilt in Progress

This is another sneak peek of a quilt I'm working on for a friend's birthday. I've so enjoyed working on this one - the fabrics are (to me) the perfect mix of whimsy and fun, with the lace adding some texture and depth. I used this most excellent tutorial, but substituted interfacing for freezer paper, which I can rip off. This has been a bit of a revelation - so even and neat for me!

Design in Process: Das Monk

I have written before about my friend's label Das Monk - the most excellent t-shirt (and now singlet and hoody) one stop shop you could ask for.

Now Marc has an excellent little blog, with very cool music and some super interesting images. I love this post which details the design process with U.K. artist Tim Laing on the t-shirt Black Adders.

Inspired by this picture of snakes and the logo of a now-defunct Kuwaiti Bank, (I love the disparate inspiration sources!) this amazing t-shirt was born. Have a look at the blog for some amazing music tips and lots more inspiration.

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Goodies in the Mail

Last week I was lucky enough to win a giveaway on Kylie's blog. In fact, I won it on the very same day of my own giveaway - that's quick acting karma, for you!

It arrived this morning wrapped in red and aqua pretties. I'm so excited to sit down with this beautiful book Handmade Hellos and its presence alone is hugely inspiring. Thanks so much, Kylie! (You can have a peek in Kylie's shop, too, for some deliciously cute brooches. Also, I confess the soundtrack to Kylie's blog is so good you might just keep it open in your browser a little bit longer!).

A Whale of a Time

Way back in May I told you about the Beached Whale cartoon done by some incredibly talented friends: Jarod, Bosh and Macca. A Youtube sensation with over 5 million hits, tonight it debuts on ABC 1 (that's our national broadcaster, international friends) as the beginning of an eleven part series!

Truly huge amounts of work have gone into the series and you can see some hilarious 'making of' snippets right here.

Also, check out Alice's interview for more info.

Cotton Bags

These are my latest quick-fix sewing project. Sometimes I need to start a project and finish it that hour, just so I can feel like I'm getting something done!

I found the brown and cream elastic at Reverse Garbage and love the vintage feel of it with these fabrics, in particular.
These have already been gifted to some special friends and a new favourite thing to do is to use these to bundle up little packs of fun. Gift wrapping with fabric, if you like! I find them so useful - I often use cotton bags to store all manner of things: camera chargers, batteries, pencils, crafty bits and pieces. They could easily turn into a make up bag or travel laundry bag, too!