We (heart) Whitehorse

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I really like the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Living section on Tuesdays and I'm happy they gave our local a sort or crap review. (It'll keep people out right?) Can't imagine how a pub review will do much to sway thirsty people in the evenings. I'm not too worried about being in a pub that's a little slick + the rooftop area *is* really cool. We love the Whitehorse (and have never had the urge to order a $14 marg) and of course the Clock across Crown street.

On the topic of the SMH, according to the Sydney Food Diary, the new Good Food Guide is coming out next week. I only just bought a copy of the 2006 book and have earmarked loads of restaurants to check out. Not sure if I'm ready to tackle the 2007 issue. But I will try.

Today took forever

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OMG What was I in such a hurry to get to work for?

Now that I'm 20...

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I was reading the August issue of Australian Bazaar and the editor wrote an apropos column about age appropriateness of trends, namely skinny jeans and leggings. I could really relate to her age (32) and her trend envy.

Now, I'm no dummy and I'm not going to con myself into thinking that I'll be wearing leggings with skirts anytime soon. I did it already in my very early teens during the Expo 86 era. I do not need to revisit leggings. Ever.



But the skinny jeans, I wanted em. When I left in June, everyone in Vancouver was wearing the same hipster bootcut Sevens, Citizens, Rock & Republic, True Religion and Hudson jeans. In Sydney right now it's either really wide legged or skinny jeans. I've got the wide legged down but skinny jeans? With these hips? I'm 33! The poster children for them are the Olsen twins, Mischa Barton and Lindsay Lohan.

Well I found out I'm not too old. Heidi likes skinny jeans! Stacey London wears them! I tried on a bunch of different brands. Most has a rise that was too low and I didn't even bother with Sass & Bide or Tsubi cause they are too stupidly expensive to entertain. I wound up in Sportsgirl (a store that I know I'm borderline too old for) and they had lots of different styles and colors of the jeans and found a black pair called "The Mwah Mwah". They were the easiest jeans decision ever at $89. Skinny jeans work on me! I'm quite pleased and kind of wish I had one more day of unemployment so I could wear them out tomorrow.

Heidi Klum hawking on PR

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I really love Project Runway and don't miss an episode but something is really bugging me.



Heidi has her own jewellery line and wears the stuff on pretty much every show. There's a fine jewellery line that's pricy, I'm sure. Or you can buy the cheaper stuff on QVC. The funny thing is that even though she has it on all the time on the show, it hasn't been mentioned yet. I'm waiting for it to be incorporated into one of the challenges. "Designers! I have my own super fabulous line of jewellery! Your challenge is to create an accessory line as accessible and affordable as my own!"

Something will happen...she can't come out with a line without mentioning it on her own show. Worst part is, I actually like it and I'm tempted to get the earrings.

I'm 20!

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Time-wasting surveys are fun. Thanks Tom!

You Are 20 Years Old

What Age Do You Act?

I notice there's a survey called "What rejected crayon color are you?". It reminds me that my long lost friend Kim used to swear that there was a blue Crayola called "Tippy Canoe".

Oh and I'm "spank me pink". Great.

You are

What Rejected Crayon Are You?

So much for unemployment

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I found work! I'm off to the daily grind on Monday. Another day, another dollar.

I'm pretty pleased considering I networked my way into it. (Recruiters are morons.) Good people, good role, good money. I'm sure it will work out just fine. I'm back in marketing and it's a 3-month contract with a pretty safe bet on going permananent unless I screw things right up. (Even if I didn't get renewed, having a well known Aussie company on the resume will be good, I'll get to switch jobs meaning I'll meet more people + unemployment in the summer rocks!)

Only forseable downside: long commute. It's about an hour to get out to the western part of Sydney where the office is. So I've come up with somewhat of a plan:

My 2 favorite stations are set on the presets of my car. No station in Vancouver would play De La Soul, Thom York and Camille on weekday mornings. FBI and Triple J so I'll be entertained.

Gas, groceries and grog aree cheaper in the burbs. I'll find the places to shop that might offset the volume of gas I'll be consuming. Thanks to the Bargain Queen for the tip on the booze + the shout out.

I will find a gym out west so I can go in the morning and get ahead of the awful 8am traffic. (I am typing this one out so that I at least try to go a few days a week. Self induced guilt is a wonderful thing.)

I just got a bluetooth headset so I can chat on the drive. 7:30am = 2:30pm in Vancouver. I have a good phone plan so I can phone home. $30 bucks on eBay, of course.

Confessions of a TV addict

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One thing that I want to do in Sydney is watch less TV. The weather is better...I'll be out and about more, right? So far, I haven't bought a subscription cable service and we only have a very small borrowed TV.

Oh but this hasn't stopped me...I just can't help myself.

Loads of popular American TV shows can be downloaded. I don't have to miss a thing if I don't want to. I realized that I cannot live without my imagined boyfriend John Stewart. I never stayed up late enough to watch it in Vancouver on the night it aired - I always watched the Tivo'd show the next day. So I don't feel any farther behind here. I'm just downloading it the next day.


Same with Project Runway. Season 3 is about a third of the way through. I am in love with this show. It airs on Wednesdays in the US, so it's already Thursday here, and I download it on Friday. I justhave to keep away from the websites that comment on it for a couple of days so I don't read any spoilers but I never miss an episode. Yay!

I just noticed that What Not To Wear is available in iTunes to download in the US only. I can't find it elsewhere anywhere to download. How do I get around the US iTunes thing? I miss Stacy and Clinton!

I just started watching Entourage...watched a downloaded version of season 1 and my computer is working on getting me season 2. I dig that I've been to a lot of the places in LA that they film at. Love it!

Why cave and get subscription TV when I can watch what I want with no ads?

Shopping tour of Vietnam

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I just finished reading Anothony Bourdain's A Cook's Tour and he sure loved Vietnam. He loved the people, the food and the sense of pride they have about their culture and their ways. I am intrigued. Then I read about a shopping tour of Vietnam. After being impressed by the shopping in Bali, I think Vietnam would be even better. And you get to stop in Brunei and there's a trip to a 'sophisticated jungle resort' too. Sweet.

I'm not sure if I'm a girl that could stick to the tour 24/7 but I'm intrigued by the shopping format. I'm known for finding my way around a city just by finding interesting and stylish shops and restaurants but I also like the idea of having it all sussed out for you.

From their website:

Kim-Dung Robinson takes you into a secret world of shopping in exciting Sai Gon.

Includes a luxurious overnight stop-over in the Sultanate of Brunei at journey’s end.

Quality and Price
In the department stores at the centre of the city or in the special suburban shops we know, you will be delighted by the high quality and low prices. Pick up a new suit for work, new memory for your camera or even a new camera.

Shopping Guides
We will provide you with guides to assist your shopping, to overcome the language barrier and ensure you get value for money.

A Break Away
After you have enjoyed energetic Saigon for a few days, we’ll take you for a break at a sophisticated resort hidden in the jungle where you can pamper yourself with a full-body mud bath and a soak in a mineral hot springs.

Monkey Bridge Tours

The perfect flat white

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At the Book Kitchen in Surry Hills (Devonshire Street). Super yummy breakfast and good menu on a nice and sunny Sunday at mid-day.

Best part? Passionfruit butter on multigrain thick toast. Sweet and creamy goodness.

eBay scores

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I'm always happy to show off a good deal and everyone knows that I heart eBay!

For the house:
Breville Super Whizz food processor - about $175 new...got it for $43! This thing has a squillion attachements like juicer, graters, dough mixer. I'm impressed with it.


Stainless steel microwave - you can't get one for under $180...$61!


Mid century sideboard - $169. This would be a good deal in Vancouver but here it's even better. I haven't seen a decent one for under $400 in Sydney + you really have to hunt around for good vintage furniture.


For me:
Stella McCartney perfume - $145 at Myer & DJ's, $90 at perfume discount stores...got it for $56US including shipping which works out to $75AUD.


Stella trainers. $90. I can't find Pumas that cheap never mind these.


For me and the house:
One that got away: Le Creuset Grille pan. $250 at DJ's, $150 at Peter's of Kensignton. It went for $81. I've been considering buying a grill pan as I've seen it called for in a lot of recipes lately and I now have a gas stove to cook on. I'm sort of glad I didn't get it as it is pricey, even at that good of a deal + it's incredibly heavy which seems sort of cumbersome to me.

Peter's of Kensington

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I've been feeling foodie lately...shopping at outdoor markets, watching Hell's Kitchen (way to go Heather!) and exploring the restaurants and food emporiums of Sydney. And I think I've found cookware heaven.

In big pink building (yes pink!) on Anzac Parade about 10 minutes from our place, you can find any cooking weapon of mass construction known to man. It's like Sur La Table but warehouse style. Now I could spend an hour in Sur La table but I could spend all day in here. They have all the brands known to man...Le Creuset, Breville, Alessi, Nigella, Good Grips, Calphalon and on and on and they're well discounted. It's no dollar store but instead of paying $80 for our Eileen Bodum, we paid $39. (and it's a hot looking 12 cupper!) All the Nigella Lawson is 50% off too. We saw our same coffee press at Meyer for a full $80 and the Nigella for full price as well. People must just pay that...dummies!

They have a good little gourmet food section as well that's worth a look. I bought some Bonne Maman jam for 5 bucks - I like the french handwriting on the label and it is yummy. And all the Simon Johnson is half off - that $18 jar of marinara that I saw the other day at his deli in Alexandria still seems kind of pricey at $9.50...

The adorable plastic bowls (at the left) with lids are featured in the July InStyle magazine and are listed at $49.95 - they are $39 at Peter's. I am *so* getting them once I'm working as they'll pay for themselves when I bring my own lunch to work and I'll feel very smart having them instead of plain takeaway style containers.

I don't understand why any retailer would stock Method products in Australia though. They are all around $5 bucks in Canada at Shoppers Drug Mart and the US at target. Normal grocery prices for cleaners and soaps, right? They are $30 in Australia!! I saw them at a housewares store at Bondi Junction. At Peter's they are still between $12 and $20 dollars. For liquid handsoap? Please. The packaging is groovy and everything but so not worth the price no matter how discounted.

Peter's also has a few other departments and it's an odd mix of stuff: perfume, luggage, toys, watches and pens. Still good prices but it's the range of kitchen stuff that really works.

So I'm never paying retail for name brand crockery again. Yay! And if I'm really lazy, I can order online and they only charge $5 for delivery. But why would I deny myself the retail therapy pleasure?

Good range of Alessi.

All things Nigella.

Alanah Hill Outlet

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After visiting the Alanah Hill shop at the The Strand the other day, I became a little obsessed and started googling her stuff - there's a lot of it on eBay. I must have looked through everything but decided not to bid on anything and I'm so glad I did.

I went to the Outlet mall at Birkenhead Point today. In reality, I'm looking for a suit. I only have one suit and I have a bunch if interviews to go to including a second interview next Monday. Finding a suit at an outlet mall is near impossible since the pants and jackets rarely match each other, nevermind trying to find a matching set the same size. I tried on a few things that I could manage to find but the suits at Table 8 were way to cheap looking and another that I tried at Cue had the right jacket but the pants were one size either too big or too small. Country Road and Witchery didn't even have any matching suits. Argh.

And what do I find in the front corner of the mall? Alannah Hill! Crammed full of tops, skirts and dresses. Pretty much everything there is half price or less...it was like being a kid in a candy store! I must have tried about 10 things on. Every top fits and drapes differently as she uses really delicate fabrics that are sort of unpredictable. Only one top worked really well on me and it's called Drunk All the Time (she names all the styles and they are hillarious) *AND* it was $50 marked down from $199! Yay!

Lessons learned here:
1. Generally, the outlet prices are pretty good (50% discount at least) so I'll start there when I need something new. Just not a suit.
2. I'm never buying Alannah Hill on eBay. The outlet prices are better and you never know what will fit and look good.
3. I have a kickass little top to go under a great suit. (Not really a lesson but more of an affirmation that I will find a suit by Friday that won't break the bank.)

Killing time at The Strand

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Between appointments with recruiters today I had an opportunity to take a closer look at The Strand arcade on George Street. It's a heritage site (hertage shopping!) that's been there since 1892 and it is full of boutiquey fabulous fashion. I had been in there once before to check out Funki's: a tiny little shop full of groovy Swedish design-y things. This time I went up to the next floor...

Love the two shops at either end. The Corner Shop is full of lovely things from Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu and a lot of designers that I didn't recognize as I assume they're Aussie. I'm doing my best to learn them but it's coming slowly. They had these glittery Marc Jacobs flats that everyone is knocking off (I just saw a knock-off pair at Paddy's Markets on Sunday) they also had the most divine pale pink gauzy silk Sass & Bide lace up style top. At only $795 it's a steal. Um no, but if I had the means, I'd snap it up. Anyway, the salesgirls were really nice and I picked up a copy of VICE mag. Yay!

The store at the other end is Alanna Hill. I am in love. It's like BeBe (without the sluttiness) meets Betsy Johnson (without the craziness)...it's actually the best of both worlds. Crazy patterns, silky and gauzy fabrics, fun shoes and accessories. Yummy! Salesgirls in there were really nice too. When I have an income and somewhere to go I am defenitely going back there to pick up something for a night out.

There are lots of shops in the hallway between these two...lovely things at Third Millenium, Hussy, Bare and Zimmerman. One unfortunate shop: Bettina Liano. It's a bad compartmentalized store with I-wish-I-was-Mischa-Barton salesgirls in desperate need of a sandwich.

I'll be back at the Strand once I'm gainfully employed and have a few hundred dollars set aside to spend on a special summery top.

Sydney Design 06

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In doing the advance research on stuff to do in Sydney, I zeroed in on the Powerhouse Museum that specializes in design and science. (Good website) I was also especially interested in the Sydney Design festival (also good website)

So I was excited to go to the Young Blood Designers Market the other night - it was full of great stuff and I came away with a couple of things. Craig got a shirt too.

So we went to the Powerhouse Museum to check out the actual show today. I have to admit, it was a little underwhelming. The program is 30 pages...there's a lot going on. But not much of it is actually at the museum. Craig and I walked through it and weren't wowed. I thought the place would be teeming with great objects, concepts and large exhibitions but it wasn't like that at all. There were a couple of kind of small shows I enjoyed. The graphic design exhibition was good as there were actual case studies of new media, prducts and websites by graphic designers. My favorite: Deus Ex Machina- a motorcycle shop in Sydney that has created an amazing brand for themselves.

Eye Saw was an outdoor graphic design show in an alley near the Powerhouse. Very cool and well thought out.

The thing that bugged me about the Design Show is that the signage and cohesion of the show wasn't that great. Once we were inside the museum, we had to ask where the different SD06 exhibitions were. You'd think they'd make a big deal out of which are the special shows for the design festival. Instead, we had to hunt around and ask where the design show areas were.

The other exhibition I really liked is part of the Powerhouse's permanent collection, so not officially part of SD06. Inspired! is a collection of design through time. My favorite parts were the mid-century to current modern designs and I really loved all of the fashion they showed. Balenciaga and Dior from the 1950s to more modern Comme Des Garcons and Courreges. I took lots of photos - don't know if I was supposed to - and they are here.

There are still a couple more parts to Sydney Design 06 that I want to check out. I'd like to see the Home Beautiful 'best products of the year' that starts later this week. Also might do a walking tour of Surry Hills that's hosted by the Australian Architecture Association. Overall, I enjoyed the show but they sure make you hunt and work for it.

I found mecca in SPACE

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Haven't spent a lot of time exploring clothes, makeup and shoe shops lately. It's been mostly furniture and lifestyle type of stores considering we're putting together a whole new apartment here.

Saturday afternoon I went on a little tour of Alexandria, thanks to Home Furniture on Consignment. I have no idea why but they put other stores on the map to their store.

HFOC is pretty good. Mostly groovy stuff but nothing there for me today. The prices for the used mid-century are good compared to other stores in Sydney. I'm still getting used to the prices - they are way higher here than at home and makes me wish I had shipped the barcelona chair, the ball lamps and some other mid-century and retro stuff.

Also on their map is Simon Johnson Providore's Market - a ridiculously priced gourmet shop. Super basic pepper grinder for $79, oven mitts for $59 and jars of marinara sauce for 18 bucks. They had lots of interesting looking teas in pretty tins but none under $33. Holy crap! And the produce and deli meats and cheese were no big deal. Pass.

Finally, SPACE. It's like my mothership and I have no idea why I didn't go before. They have every super pricey line that I love like Kartell, Alessi, Phillip Starck, Mandarina Ducks, Rosendahl, B&B Italia, Poliform (and we live just above the Poliform shop in Surry Hills) plus all the usual design suspects like Le Cobusier, Eames, Knoll, Panton blah blah blah. Kicks ass on Design Within Reach which is way too serious and stuffy by comparison. Some stores don't really want you taking pictures...I wasn't super stealthy but I didn't use a flash since I didn't want to draw attention to myself. More pics are here.

Most impressive:

The accessories on the main floor - great design books, groovy DVDs (they were playing Alif Tree in the store), loads of fun smaller gifty things.

The wall of chairs. Too cool.

Garden gnomes in solid colors. Brilliant. You could do this yourself...buy some garden gnomes and spray paint them solid colors. Light powder blue would be good. Then just put a few in various places around the house: windowsills, on an end table. Fun!

Gloss/matte florentine tapestry wall. Again, you could totally do this yourself and it would make a room look rad.


I couldn't leave without something so I picked up a wooden ampersand from millicent & frank. I saw her stuff the night before - the cutout letters and symbols. What do you think?

Have a design-y day

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The Sydney Design show has been on for a week now and I wanted to head to the Powerhouse Museum to check it out. And what best way to kick it off? Shopping of course.

Checked out the Young Blood Designers Market last night. Packed with people, tons of stalls, lots of designers with really cool ideas. Furniture, clothes, jewellery. Lots of stuff that makes you go: Why didn't I think of that?

My favorites were Zaishu seats: flat packed panels that you put together to make a seat/table. They had really cool patterns but at $250 each, I had to pass.


Loved the Christiana necklaces: all black, white, silver and clear and made of cut acrylic. I had to buy one.


Would have bought a Pip Willy lampshade but at $120 wasn't ready to buy right then and there. Really like all her fabric patterns and the cityscapes fabrics were outstanding.


Loved the cut out letters and symbols by millicent & frank. So cool but I couldn't think of anything to do with just one.


There were lots of crafty fabric things that were fairly uninspiring...fabric scarves, iPod covers, amateurish skirts and dresses. (why are they always wrap dresses?) The kind of stuff you could easily find on Etsy for cheap.

Next stop for me on the Sydney Design calendar? Actually going to the show. It's on until the 20th.

Cupcakelicious in Sydney

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Since getting here I've been feeling the need to replace the places we love in Vancouver. Cupcakes on Denman Street is on the distinguished list of cool and fun places. It has everything going for it...yummy cupcakes that are retro styled, the beach down the street and all-you-can-eat sushi upstairs.

Cupcakes on Pitt has none of that and I'm a little bummed. When I found out about it, by Googling cupcakes shops of course, I wanted to head down and see if it would compare. I'm sure the cupcakes are good, but it's in the middle of the city so there's no beach or scenery to enjoy them which was most of the charm of Denman St.



But white chocolate and tiramisu cupcakes? That'll bring a girl back to cupcake happiness pretty quick. Just have to take them to go and head over to the waterfront. White chocolate....mmmmmmmmmm......

Also found My Little Cupcake which is in Neutral Bay and will have to head over for a try.

Shopping Comparison: MAC Lipglass

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I seriously cannot live without Nymphette lipglass. So I headed over to David Jones to pick some up and coughed when the SA told me it's $34 dollars. Holy crap.

So decided to get some on eBay from a US seller who has decent shipping costs. It was $20.63US on July 25th. And it arrived yesterday. Thanks will-ee22!

So: $34 AUS vs. $20.63US = $26.94AUS.

I saved $7 bucks (about 2 coffees worth) but had to wait almost 2 weeks, which I don't really care about as I'm not completely out of the last tube yet + it would have taken that long to get to Canada.

So far, I like it.

Waddaya mean it's only once a month?

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I got up sort of early today to go check out the The Good Living Growers’ Market.

It was a soggy morning and even though it was not raining while I was there, I moved through it pretty quickly as I was walking through big puddles and muddy grass. You see, it's been raining here for the past 36 hours straight. Not showers, but real "Make-Vancouver-proud!" rain. So since it was sort of soggy, I didn't stop at all the stalls - and there are tons - and I didn't really linger to check out what you could stop and have for breakfast, although I did see a few stalls that were selling bacon and egg sandwiches, coffees and a couple of stalls had guys manning the barbies with sausages and yummy smelling breakfast-y stuff. And this is the kind of market that would give the San Francisco Ferry Market a run for its money. I should have spent more time but I thought, I'll be back next week. I can bring my camera, the weather should be better, etc.



I had read about the market on my fave Sydney food blogger's site but as I'm now settling in back home and unpacking some of the stuff I got, I just realized that it's only a once-a-month market. What?! Crap. There are tons of other markets to check out so I'll just have to wait to visit this one again.

I would check out the (also) once a month Surry Hills market but it just started raining again. Don't really want to look at soggy swap meet stuff.

SHOOES

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SHOOES

This Alpha was parked at the local grocery store in Surry Hills. And the broad can't even spell - gives the rest of us shoppers a bad name.