Things I love today

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alt.binaries.tv - I cannot live without the Office and My Name Is Earl. Never mind the new shows that will take ages to air here. I'm in love with Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Which makes me realize that my love for the West Wing had nothing to do with the setting of the White House and everything to do with good writing and smart dialogue. And walking and talking.

This! Retarded I know.

My stuff. It finally arrived on Thursday. My kitchen stuff, my summer clothes, my extra perfumes and nailpolishes, my buddhas, my books and my DVDs. Spent the day unpacking and enjoying everything. Our place finally looks like a home now we have a few books in a bookcase, some things on the wall and some personality in here.

The lolly man - a guy that stops by my office fornightly and people flock out to the van to buy candies for $2.20 a bag. Random but good.

$66 bucks!

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I won that Wassily chair. I pick it up tomorrow after work. Yay! I (heart) eBay.

How I know I've been in Sydney for 3 months

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Holy crap it's 3 months today.

19 degrees already feels sort of chilly.

$12 for a workday takeaway lunch sounds cheap.

I now say takeaway instead of takeout.

I look right when I cross the street.

I order a schooner of beer.

I have worked out what a flat white and a long black are.

I've finally stopped entering 604 when dialling a call.

I have a NSW driver's license, City of Sydney Library card, Fitness First membership, Aussie tax ID number and Medicare. I am defenitely on the grid.

$550 a week for rent sounds like a good deal.

I hate Neighbors and Home and Away.

I really really miss copious amounts of sushi for cheap.

I'm sort of getting used to not be able to turn left on a red light when it's clear.

I'm used to prime time TV shows starting on the half hour.

I already don't know who any of the Canucks are.

I no longer walk around to the left side of the car to get in.

I bought Uggs to get me through the winter in an unheated apartment unit. (heh I said unit)

Iguanas are the new squirrels. Haven't hit one with the car yet.

The opposite of shopping...borrowing

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I've always been a card carrying VPL member and considering I don't like to pay for books since I plough through so many, I've checked out the Sydney library. (Haha. OK that was bad.)



I am in love with the main branch at Circular Quay. It's in a heritage building but the inside has been completely modernized. And they always have a couple of intersting exhibitions on. Currently, a historical show an the history of drinking and a giant model of the downtown core underneath the floor of the lobby area. Cool.



The best part is that I'm quite sure the library is really underused. I've been able to get pretty much all the books I've wanted. No wait lists. Which is awesome considering books are crazy expensive here and there's no Amazon equivalent. It's actually often cheaper to order from amazon.com or .co.uk. How dumb is that?

Perfect Sunday: Food & Books

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Had pretty much the perfect Sunday today. Started at the gym, which has gorgeous views over the city and harbour from the stairmasters and cross-trainers. Very inspiring - and it helps to pass the time on the cross trainer when you can watch ferries and boats come and go. After that, back home to re-group. On the way home, I caught the temp on the car dashbboard. Holy crap.


In the afternoon, headed to a food festival in Newtown - Sydney's inner west. It was still hot and then the wind picked up. Sort of felt like a hair dryer. There were tons of food stalls but nothing too spectacular. I was expecting some really interesting stuff but it was fairly regular - thai, indian, pub food, ice cream. We sampled some wine, then grabbed a beer and some thai food. (I'm going to have a good lunch for work tomorrow!)


While on the west side, we went to Norton Street in Leichhardt. This is what the Italian part of Commercial Drive would love to be. Tons of coffee shops, italian restaurants and food shops. Of course it's all crammed into 2 blocks. Not exactly a long strip.

Stopped in to Berkelouws Books. We've spent hours in the Oxford Street location but didn't spend as much time today. I love this bookshop cause it's one of the only shops in Sydney that's open late it seems - 11pm every night. And it has a coffee shop. They might want to make sure their shelving staff are caffienated though. Both Oxford St and Leichhardt are pretty big too - they have loads of used books as well as new. And also have a great selection of cards, notebooks and stationery. Bought some wrapping paper to cover my Sydney street directory. I wouldn't be able to get around Sydney without it, but it's ugly. Now it's supercute.


Also in Leichhardt, went and saw Thank You For Smoking. Smartest film I've seen in a while.

Our first weekend of summery sun

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Day 23 of spring and summer suddenly switched on. Works for me!

Went to a delightfully old school tapas place last night - lots of oil, cream and garlic in every dish. Killer sangria. Gay name: Captain Torres. Was fantastic wandering home in the heat with a stop for a beer at a pub on the way. (Watched a bit of Aussie rules football there too. I had no clue what was going on.)



Today, went to the beach. How could we not? It's what we moved here for!

No shopping today when it's this nice out. Well, I do have my eye on this chair on eBay but it only closes in a couple of days. Sexy in white!

This is why we moved here

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Going to the beach tomorrow. Yay!

A knockoff store of a knockoff store

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If you've ever shopped at Urban Outfitters, you'll know the Free People brand. It's pretty much a line that knocks off any new designer trend. They even have a few of their own locations.

So as I'm walking through Rhodes Shopping Centre the other day, I find a store called Free People. In the same font. Could it be?

Nope. But it's close and I've found a new shop full of bargains. Just about everything is under $80 and it's packed full of fun tops, skirts and dresses. While trolling through the racks, I found the exact same summery tunic top that I bought at H&M in Chicago last May. The exact one. Then I saw another top that I know I saw at Forever 21 in San Francisco in April. I asked about the shop and it's an idependant so there's no way they have any affiliation with H&M or any other chain store.

Considering these clothes are made in China, my theory is that the larger stores order them from Asian factories, then the factories keep making them after the order is filled knowing other buyers will pick them up.

So Free People is full of knockoffs of knockoffs. Or something. Fine with me!

I think I found Aussie Tivo!

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Need to do some more investigation but I think these guys are providing guide data for PVRs. Woo hoo! (Now, is there anything interesting on Aussie TV?)

Laser-like focus

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Had a full week back at work and a very busy day today. At some point during the day I realized that I only have 2 pairs of shoes I can wear to work (I don't do strappy sandals or flats for work, dontcha know). So what's a girl to do? Get some pick-me-up-on-a-Friday-afternoon shoes, of course.

I headed to DFO in Homebush, another set of factory outlets in Sydney. The good thing about working out west is that the malls and cheap shopping are out that way. Got into the shopping center at about 5:45 only to find out that the whole place closes at 6. (Every day!) This is the problem with Sydney shopping. Very limited shopping hours. Argh.

Time to focus.

Did a 2 minute tour through the Nine West outlet - nothing there. On to Wittner. Problem with outlet centers and being a size 8 is that there's usually nothing left. Found a ton of strappy party shoes but can't buy those...lots of cute flats but that wasn't what I was after...then found the perfect 70's wedges actually in my size. Light brown with a pinkish hue and croc trim. $59 (I love no sales tax here.) Yay! Mission complete. I'll wear these on Monday and I'll sail through the week.



DFO has tons of shops but I didn't have time to check it all out since every bored shopgirl in the place was pulling down their roller doors at 5:55. Will have to go back to inspect when I can get out of work earlier.

Jamie Oliver Live

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Went and saw Jamie Oliver live last night. He's here in Australia opening one of his fifteen restaurants - only it's in Melbourne - and the TV show about it started tonight. He stopped into Sydney to promote his show, do a few live shows and shill his wares.

Didn't know what to expect but the show was really well done, it was cooking entertainment. Lots of audience participation. Lots of dirty jokes with food innuendos. Lots of fun. He probably got about 5 minutes into the show without promoting his Tefal stuff or his Flavour Shaker. I bought one cause, well, I like to buy and I just might use it. The only really unfortunate parts of the show were the musical elements. His restaurant manager sang during the opening intro and intermission. And Jamie sang and danced to a song about fish stew. Très cringeworthy. But other than the tragic music, a great show. I'm defenitely going to keep watching the fifteen show on Thursday nights and I know I'll get to Melbourne to eat there once it's open.

I took a bunch of really poor quality video of the show. Watch Jamie drum! Watch Jamie cook! Watch Jamie sell his books/DVDs/TV shows, fill his restaurant and go ka-ching!

'Designer' coke cans?

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I remember when Starbucks first came to town and it was cool to carry a tall latte in your hand as you walked and shopped your way down Robson Street. That was back in the days when there was only one Starbucks per square block in downtown Vancouver and short was a size still on the menu board.



So should I care about what my Coke can looks like? Doubtful. I would almost care if the designer can had an actual designer's name attached to it. If it was a Phillip Starck can or a Frank Ghery can. Maybe. But to get you to pay more for less Coke in the can? It can not last.

ps. Coke is about double here over Vancouver, which I'm pretty sure is twice the price of the US. We pay at least $12.00 (on sale!) for 24 cans of Coke at Coles. I would never pay more than about 7 bucks in Vancouver and it's about $3.99 in the US. Too bad I'm a Diet Pepsi-aholic and Craig is a Coke-aholic. So it's effing expensive enough, thanks!

I'm entitled to whine now and then

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So here it is. It's Sunday and I've just had the most miserable week ever. Seriously. Ever.

I'll list it all out so that I can exorcise the demons of downerness.

The record breaking weather here has been seriously foul in the past 5 days. 2 days ago a spokesperson for the Sydney Water Catchment Authority said: "We would need 50mm a day for five days straight over the whole catchment to get the dams up to 70 per cent capacity," she said. "The best kind of rain is consistent, gentle, soaking rain because then you get good run-off." It's been pouring crazy sideways rain for 4 days and is supposed to continue until Tuesday. Happy lady?!

And I have the worst headcold I've had in a few years. I've been sick for 4 days so far. It wouldn't be quite so brutal if Australia had decent cold remedies. Seriously, every bottle I looked at last Thursday at the drugstore had herbal crap as the main ingredient. Real wimpy stuff here. If it doesn't have some dextromethorphan and some seriously speedy ephedra in it, it will not help. And the Aussie version of Neo-Citran, which should knock you out cold, is called Lem-Sip and only has painkiller in it. No good drugs, no decongestant...nothing! It should be called Lem-Rip. I'm stuck with some questionalbe decongestant that does nothing. Argh. (The next person who comes to visit us from Canada will have to bring Theraflu, Neo-Citran and Extra Strength Robitussin.)

And somehow the City of Sydney or the RTA thinks it's a great idea to do overnight roadwork outside our apartment. It's been going on for the past 2 weeks between 11pm and 2-4am beginning a week ago Monday when jackhammering started outside our window at 11:30pm. Craig said he has never seen me so tired - I was seriously sleep deprived before I got sick so I'm blaming the city for my illness.

And my favorite Nonna passed away on Tuesday, so that mixed in with the weather and my illness and you have miserable Mel. And I had to fly on Friday for the funeral. The plane ride to Queensland for the day really sucked. The cabin pressure made me feel like my stuffy head was going to explode. I was in serious pain. Although it was very sad, it was nice to hear the fun stories about Nonna though. She travelled all kinds of places and was touring Europe in her 80s which I think is really cool. I left with a ton of her old photos that I want to scan and preserve.

So I've pretty much slept all weekend. (considering I was so sick I didn't really have a choice) And there's no roadwork on weekends, thank god. So I'm trying to find the silver lining in the past week and it's pretty hard. I'm holding on to the weather forcast for dear life as it says that it will be clear and improving by Wednesday. I'll be back to work and into a routine, my head will clear eventually and spring will be back on track. Fingers crossed.

Back to our regularly scheduled shopping:

I want a mouse in Unikko. It would go with my umbrella that I got in San Francisco and the wall hangings at home. You can only order them in Japan for now apparently. I'm sure Chee Soon & Fitzgerald will have them in store soon enough.

So wrong

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It's been a while since I fell out of love with the Gap. (I did once in a while buy some stuff at Old Navy and Banana though) Now I don't feel bad at all that they don't have Gap here.

Retail Therapy

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I've been having sort of a bummer week this week so I went for some retail therapy today. Dr Phil might not approve but too bad! To move here, I pared down the wardrobe significantly to the point where I now have some fun weekend clothes but not a lot of work clothes. So I obviously have to build back up!

Stopped in at Birkenhead Point on the way home, and it's not really on my way home, to do a tour of the shops. Was not surprised to find I didn't really find anything in Alanah Hill considering her clothes aren't that worky. Found a perfect capped sleeve silk top with a tie at the waist in Cue that's cute and worky so job well done!

Cue and Veronika Maine are great, modern work clothes that can be found in pretty much any shopping center in Australia. I am coveting this dress at Veronika Maine. At $269 (ouch) I think I can find a cheaper alternative somewhere.

I also just found that sass & bide are doing a t-shirt for the breast cancer foundation. Of course I ordered one 'cause it's fashion and philanthropy. Two tops in one day. I feel better now but I just have to get that dress...

First Saturday of the Month

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I have a feeling that I'll be really looking forward to the first Saturdays of the month in Sydney. The Good Living Growers Market is on as well as the Surry Hills market.

This is the 2nd day of spring - check out the temp:


I started off with a mild hangover (very mild - mostly dehydration) and headed for the growers market. Saturday was the second day of spring and it was hot out! I picked up some fresh apple juice and a big flat white and felt much better. Picked up a bag of the most delish apples, a bag of super sweet blood oranges, some yummy goat cheese and fresh ciabatta. It's just fun to walk around and look at all the different sellers - mostly organic and independantly grown.



Sharpening guy - will remember to bring my knives down next time since I've never had them professionaly done:


Next, to the Surry Hills market. This is a funky, mostly vintage clothes and household market. I'm not big on vintage clothes but I know there are some great finds. I love the abundance of 70s household stuff. Kitchen plastics, glassware in crazy colors, wierd artwork. If you chose well, you could really fill your place with some neat things from here. I bought a cute top from a guy named Liam Wellstead - he found inspiration from a stained glass door on Crown Street so I'll feel very much like a local when I wear it. (I can buy local cred, right?)

Cups I wish I had bought:


More fun stuff:


It's been a warm, action packed weekend - now I get to settle in and watch Project Runway. Perfect weekend wind-down.

Work cuts into shopping time

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Having a day job is a drag. Apart from the having to go, it also cuts into the free time.



Aussie sites I've found that will be very helpful in the coming months. I love getting stuff in the mail - it's almost like Christmas.

Beauty Heaven: Fun mostly makeup site.
Nail stuff here: My all time holy grail base coat is Creative Stickey.
Adore: They have almost everything here.

and of course, eBay!