6 Restaurants & 4 Cakes

6 Restaurants & 4 Cakes

Monday 20th March

A day working from home, as we try to aim for Mondays means lunch on Main Street! $15 Lunch at Mother Dough. We had the mussels & cherry tomato linguine. Seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic. The mussels were fresh and juicy, average sizes, while the pasta was a bit chewier than I prefer, but fine apart from being too salty for me.  

Matt Preston's Nutella Pie-ish Cake

• Chocolate but not very sweet
• Not overpowering sweet - asian friend. Not anywhere as sweet as I thought! 
• Fresh strawberries brings it to life, as all 3 components compliment each other
• Bouncy texture like thick custardy jello/firm. Oh yes it reminds me of pie!

Experimenting in the kitchen we made a three ingredient cake! Well two, but we like to add vanilla, even though it seemed to make no difference in this recipe... To share a recipe my rule is that it has to be just right, and made at least twice. This one's ready. 

Tuesday

It's $16 pizza night at Sugo! Delicious and reasonably priced we can't wait to return!

Over to the Astor we saw a movie set during the war, tis alright and depressing, no dress or hair porn though. No where as uplifting and amazing as 'Hidden Figures' the last movie we saw. As depressing as the choc top was disappointing, with the stale cone.

Wednesday

A revisit to Huxtaburger Hawthorn, it's completely different from last time where service wasn't great and it was ran by asians. Think of the city kfcs that only hire international asians.

Britney $14

Grilled chicken, avocado, aioli, cheese, lettuce and tomato.

Delicious as always though Betty's is on par, perhaps better than Hux?

Beauty & The Beast - Girl's Night Out Event

Checking out the showbags. Sadly no program/postcard/flyer or any relevant merch, but there's food (stuff you can buy at Safeway) and some sachets of beauty samples and eyeshadow. Kinda disappointing after the amazing one at the last event we attended. Granted it was years ago (we saw the Devil Wears Prahran) - oh I just realized we saw that back home. I suppose it's more guy friendly? :P We were hoping for cookies/macarons and little edible treats.

The movie was great! Not as stunning as the french one, but magical in its own way!  We loved the dinner song and Gaston in particular, his best man/servant. LeFou is the original Elder Cunningham and Olaf the Snowman! The beast looks more like a goat/Krampus than lion... 

1597 was when shakesphere published romeo & juliet, though there's a 1750s roccoco style castle. Set during the Georgian era but after Victoria with Shakespeare (these two do boarder each other). At the castle time froze but the village people, some of them were related to the cursed servants? Why did the enchantress live as an outcast in the village?

It was set in France, they moved to the country because of the plague in Paris, though back Belle's family appear to have been poor. That or attics are as expensive as they are today in the city. 

The ball at the start was stunning! With all the powdered white wigs, so when the curse broke they were white but for the end party they wore black wigs??

Overall it was great and the beast gets a song too! They bonded over their love of books, being mother-less and Belle being the only girl in the village who could read, also her desire to travel. Highly recommend! We loved H has Belle, who's just as bright and brave!

Quotes
She's the prettiest girl in town, that makes her the best! XD
Screw your courage to the sticking-place - Gaston/Lady mb

Plot Summary

Thursday

The ABCs of time management. Gosh I wished we did this stuff at school! Sure I can plan, but then I get overwhelmed or one thing runs late making everything else late. Eg. Someone got hit by the train, even though I was to arrive at the theatre 30mins early but didn't make it till intermission. Trains were frozen, boom gates down and cars were at a stand still. No one was going anywhere tonight on this side of the city.

Me - I have a cape!
Him - Don't you already have one?
Me - Not one that's a blazer hybird. And it was $50 on sale.

One of the last ones I tracked when I saw the post, posted 20mins ago. It was meant to be as there was only one in my size in the city! Don't you love it when that happens?

Tip - If you see something you like go try it on and be certain of your size. Then add it tp your bookmarks tab, use java to email you when the page/price is edited. Using this I rarely ever pay full price. 

"...when they are pulling your teeth out it sounds like chicken bones snapping and you can hear the crackle of the tooth giving way and splintering. They grab your head and they really pull hard. It's all manual and very physical. A horrifying experience to say the least!"

". At one point the nurse was holding my head in place while he went to town with the pliers/cracker thing."

http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2014/05/23/the-survival-guide-to-getting-your-wisdom-teeth-removed

I chickened out and moved it to next month...

Instead of the dentist we had dinner at Angliss.

Friday

So close but so far, I'm starting to think it's display only...

Meetings, a stop by goodwill, to the closed bookshelf at the tram, to the house to make a cake (well pie, nutella pie), cleaned then to dinner. We were going to a bar but it was dark, loud and overwhelming so we took a stroll and picked somewhere random. Discussions of which point when it [life] all started to go downhill.

Work in progress, twice in a fortnight, that's about as much cake as I can handle. :P

My first HSP (because they don't make them in kid size servings, like that size at LOTF, but I hate fake meat). This one's $15 from Hellenic Bite, meat (chicken and lamb) on chips with garlic, bbq and chili sauce. It was delicious! We also had a $6 salad which was average and not particularly recommended with Coles on the same block (their potato salad is the best). It was very hot inside the eatery, oddly so.

Saturday

Too many events, too little time!

10.30 for 11am start. Damn I thought it started at 10.30am, as it clashes with my 11am. On the way we discovered a book exchange, in the beauty garden. Ironic location isn't it?  XD No beauty and the beast books though. Fruit and hot dogs for brunch? Something the boys would like, and not the usual cakes it was a bit on the diy side. Over to a makeup demo, 3 looks 15 mins each using 5 or less products. Chatting up a model on her fav off duty pieces, relating to the audience though the limited travel wardrobe. Too mainstream for me.
Lunch at Rice Workshop. Teriyaki chicken ramen $10.50. The broth was rich and creamy. Most of the chicken wasn't chewy. Springy noodles maggi sized though not taste.
Good basic if there's no ramen places in the area.

At Sacca's Fruit World we found $6 trays of strawberries! 8 boxes, so around 75c each. On their way out, still good for jams and smoothies. We sorted, washed, cut and froze them. Got a large pot of the first round ones.

Up to Camberwell from the french fete, for the kids it wasn't my thing. It's your first started food festival with a petting zoo, games, auctions/raffles, food, music and the likes. No snow cones sadly, but there was a pre-wrapped bake sale. I was hoping to get an assorted plate of classic Australian party food but they didn't have that. We Had the jam drop cookies, too soft and retro inspired with the custard yellow. I was after chocolate crackles, real rum balls and honey joys. But they didn't have any of that, unless you're after enough to serve a family of 10.

Back at the house to pack before going out to a concert, we crashed. Turns out I can't do a morning and evening event on the same day... and lesson learnt: always choose music over fashion.

Sunday
6.30 start, leaving at 5.45am we made it! The moon was still in the sky, peaking 28 at 5pm?! Peaks are normally 10am. We volunteered, meet some awesome people and had a lovely view of the school from across the river! Lots of parrots/love birds and pretty little birds. at the end of the line we have magpies and noisy minors, sometimes pigeons

As we were close by, by north taking a fork in the road we visited my favorite cake shop, green refectory. Look for lonely hearts $2, yesterday's cake. Tastes just fine, even better at $2! When does it happen? I'm not sure, normally it's just muffins, but today there were three slices! We bought two pavs and a mars bar cheesecake to share, as we're going home

To the left is St Vincents, so many colourful dresses! Alas the one I like wasn't my size. A fancy one though just $12. We didn't get a picture as it was too crowded. Apparently people steal from goodwill, as the dresses were tied to the rack! Also of interest was this cookbook/picture book! We used to love Huey, sadly that was until we met him.

How was your week?

Virgin Australia Fashion Festival (VAMFF) 2017

Virgin Australia Fashion Festival (VAMFF) 2017

Wednesday 16th March

Front row on the runway, we're loving all the shoes! Everything nice feels like plastic to me. Btw how do you clean flurry shoes? Set on the Next Runway was the UK Show (hence the unusual diversity in skin colour), in the great outdoors! It's five degrees warmer than outside in the hall and so we were glad to be outside. A warm but gloomy day - my kinda day! There's been a heat wave lately.

My favorite item? A navy blazer with white lines. Something practical. I've never bought anything I've seen on runway, I've been inspired by a couple headpieces though. Wedding runway is what I really love.

We came upon the UK Show on tickettek and were delighted to discover it was free! We rarely buy tickets for runway, preferring the performing arts, also I don't get as much value out if it as others. There were also other runways that you could get tickets for if you know someone.

The cheapest runway tickets are $65 though with Optus $45, and there would be other clubs offering discounts too. Only the premium shows have showbags, even at $40 I didn't find it worth it as I wouldn't use most of the products. But if you love runway and the products $30-40 is my ideal price.

The UK show was interesting, while I've never been to the UK I was under the impression that they had asians and Muslims too and not just people who are either black or white? Though we all know runway/media represents the ideal and not the average. After all if you were happy with the way you are, we can't sell you things that will make you "runway ready".

Front row on the runway, first and second row received different showbags, the second smaller and I'm not sure what's inside. We loved that there was two different bags, one for her and one for him! He rarely ever gets anything in the bags :P As they're always for girls.

My perception of Next? Another H&M.

What an awesome idea to spice up a denim jacket! Pins, sequins, pompoms and cheap beads. It's amazing how something so easy can we so awesome.

Fairy floss! In a few shades of purple, I do love purple!

Those three girls spent the entire evening taking pictures of themselves and each other. Though the event was designed to indulge camwhores. I'm surrounded by girls kissed the air and a sea of cameras. I've yet to take many pic as I'm not a selfie person and was deeply offended yesterday when the camera guy at Ted's asked if I mainly took selfies, as my primary use for the camera. 

Trending - Monochrome 

Something strange, new and wonderful I discovered is that I don't experience outfit envy at mainstream events. Sure I love your dress, but on you and not me. I'm more of a ballgown kinda person.

While we had a glimpse of the next big thing, 360 camera for now they're settling on gifs/animations, though I still prefer polaroids. I feel so lost, I was born in the wrong century and have nothing in common with anyone around me...

Plenty of photo ops with swings, a mirror room, tinsel background. A beer bar, the professor's second favorite. We didn't get into the VIP one this year, but I'm working on it! I mightn't like fashion nor approve though we love being invited places!

The official coffee sponsor, powering the event.

Priceline's four shipping container pop up has transformed into a building! Inside you could get your hair or makeup done, and a new photo area with prints! The latest trends is a roving camera but before that gifs, I prefer Polaroids. Unlike last year there were no showbags, only premium runway ones. So if you're in it for the freebies it's probably not worth going. 

Outside there's $2/$5 cash only vending machines. Being 8pm when we got there a lot of things were sold out. There was mainly nude by nature products and two french ones. There was Neutrogeana sunscreen too! At $5 everything was of good value.

The main venue, though there were shows outside and in the car park too.

There were two food trucks, the majority of which are more expensive than in-stores, convenience fee. Burgers and Vietnamese tonight. Skipping dinner for now we went straight to dessert with a $22 platter from Burch and purchase.

Two tubes (smaller than normal) a cake pop and wheel. Loved the ginger and passionfruit tube! A classic and best seller. The cake pop was a pop of salted caramel encased in a ball of white chocolate. Though the highlight and event exclusive was the B&P x Lavazza Coffee Wheel: coffee marshmallow and hazelnut cream sandwiched between chocolate cookies, dipped in Lavazza Prontissimo crunchy milk chocolate.

In this picture there is a screen, live from the show inside.

The gardens of fake grass was a very nice touch and upgrade from last year (just concrete blocks), simple but cheap deco - milk crates with plastic the tops lit inside with battery operated twinkle lights! Damn overhead street style lighting meant stupid yellow glow. This is why you go early and make full use of natural lighting.

What's new? Seating. Live screening on facebook. Priceline's vending machine.
What's gone? Free showbags from Priceline. More interactive activities.
When's the next show? September MSFW at City Square.

Did you go to fashion week? What were your highlights?

Hello Goodbye Fashion Week

Hello Goodbye Fashion Week

Tuesday 14th March

We finally got around to checking out the gallery!

Sometimes leaving the house and interacting with people really sucks. We had one of those situations today. You know you suck at customer service when despite solving their problem you made them cry. 

Passionfruit Ginger Crumble $8

Vanilla custard, fresh banana, traditional butter 

burst biscuit, passionfuit cream, ginger oat topping

After a trip to the office/my safe place we went for ice cream, ginger & passion-fruit frozen custard, yum! I loved the tanginess of the passion fruit cream paired with NY cheese cake like crumbs and freshness of the ginger. At $8 it seems to be the standard for desserts these days, though I think they should be priced around $6. Service was excellent! I always seem to get the same waiter and he's very warm and friendly. The A is a reference to a show I used to like (too many filler episodes and the game was reset multiple times that now no one cares who A is).

Over to South Wharf for a Tuesday Dinner at Bangpop. Tuesday Special - $10 pad thai (save $6). We discovered this special last time, though we were already set on what we'd order. On this visit we didn't see it advertised on the wharf side.

Wednesday

Set on the Next Runway was the UK show, in the great outdoors! It's five degrees warmer than outside in the hall and so we were glad to be outside. A warm but gloomy day - my kinda day! Its been a heat wave lately. This was during fashion week outside the museum.

Back to main street for dinner, Oppa Korean. Somewhere new. Cheap and delicious though cash only. Quite amazing that they were open till 11pm on a Thursday night, we have mixed feelings about how it felt like a Wednesday out there. Review coming soon.

Friday

An afternoon with the dentist, a clean, scans and check cost $180! It hurts and now I can feel the gaps between my teeth. Why is life so painful?

Wrapping up the main and last fashion week of the festival, Myer hosted a runway. A small event as David Jones was a partner. Outside you could get your hair and makeup done, but as we came straight from the dentist we didn't have any time for exploring. Inside there was drinks, coffee, ice cream and a nail bar. We hit everything inside, yay! A full post is coming up soon.

Opened on May 28, 1878 at the Opera Comique HMS Pinafore is one of the most popular Gilbert and Sullivan operas! A "timeless social satire of everything from the ruling classes and institutions (and any kind of class system) to patriotism, politicians and the public
service, ... and the heroic (and sometimes pompous) nature of serious opera". 

A top 3/5 Gilbert and Sullivan classic along with pirates, gondoliers (saw last year with grandpa and the mikado (which was amazing). The classic baby swap in social ranking. Captain and the bf - visual plot hole is that the girl and her guy are similar age while the captain is her father... All three main couples get their happy ending of course. Sir Joseph marries his cousin. It's the Regency era. I love main girl's white empire dress! Heavily beaded. Great show, one that we can't wait to see again next month.

Saturday

By 2pm on a Saturday in our small little town all the restaurants were closed and shops were closing up. Only the iga was open. Rustica's opening up here within the year and we can't wait to add life to the town !

There is no sincerer love than the love of food - Mama Marija

On this particular Saturday we're heading over to market and lunch. Enjoy it while you still can! Because we've got more dental surgery coming up followed by a month on the liquid diet.

Conveniently we're in time for end of day deals! As we forget this was happening (in between shows and dental hell) we didn't bring bags or a Granny market trolley. But you'll need those, also a husband to help hold stuff while dive in. Bring cash, small notes.

Sunday

We went for a local dinner, over at the next town, we were going to go for Huxtaburger but they were out of chicken so we went for souvalakis instead. Any recommendations for Hawthorn/Glenferrie?

Ya Mena $11.50 & Chips $3.50 = $15

Soft sov wrap with my favourite chicken honey mustard, coriander (just a touch) and caramelized onions! It was perfect. This is the same one I had last time. For $15 I had a sov (bigger than Jimmy's) paired with feta/oregano fries it was a meal. Crispy chips, for $3.50 it's quite a good deal for chips (if you want fries, McD is down the street) especially as you have the option for them plain or with thee feta/oregano. They come in three sizes, the smallest is my medium. Medium is to be shared between two.

Dental Hell Recovery

Dental Hell Recovery

Tuesday 7th March

I always thought styling was easy, for professionals. You'd have a sketch and image in your head ready. You might rearrange once or twice but it would be fun easy, and breezy. Wrong. Three arrangements later and the team still wasn't happy. It was stressful with constraints like time limit and lighting.

Some girls walk down the street with a bouquet. Me? 

I have a broom! $4 and basic I added washi tape to make it fun.

Thursday

The Lone Wolf

I like being alone. But then I don't go minding my own business, look around and perhaps there is something. Something strange. We are told that humans are social creatures. Almost every activity is based on being social, like food, eating out, going on picnics, going to events. 

Something I've noticed through life, with girls in particular is that they're always looking out for their friends, saving them spots, holding their bags and traveling in groups. There was an event I went to the other year, where it was completely BYO everything, and on my own I had a trolley and dragged a table, chair, all the deco and table setting on my own. It's hard doing things meant for a group as one person.
Perhaps what I'm after is an assistant, one who loves food, has a back for styling and will save me a seat and make sure no one steals my drink/showbag. 
I need George. As a human. Though he's adorable too as a beagle and one of my two best friends. 

At the moment I want to do a picnic shoot to mark the end of summer, perhaps a round up of all the recipies we've experimented with recently. Sure I can make it all (with some help, from my baking partner), style it and shoot it but then I'll be left with all this food that won't be eaten in time... what am I suppose to do with it all?
Yes I am surrounded by six housemates and yet I feel quite on my own, but not quite alone. 

I am surrounded by people I don't connect with. We don't share the same interests. Sure I could be surrounded by people who are just in it for the freebies/ride/things I can offer. But no, I am not my mother. 

Meanwhile trips to other towns mean an opp to try new places!

Picaika - Green Tea & Red Bean Fish Waffle $8

We picked up a quick sushi dinner on the way to Mahler 7, as it was too hot to travel to the original planned place. I don't recall what we actually ordered...

Friday

Productivity has been very questionable lately, with being very sick (a journey to the 6th circle of hell and back) but we're steadily recovering!

A morning routine: up, shower, teeth, smoothie. Seems essential. It doesn't involve going on fb or email till after lunch, if it's that important you would have called.

Playing with eggs, we want to make all the eggs in one afternoon. How do you like your eggs? I love them poached (hello 2pm brunch) and soft boiled, so soft you can vacuum it off the spoon!

We went into review for one cardi, but ended up with a dress ($100) and sweater/jumper instead. Regrets? Not sure... My only iffy-ness lies with the pattern being more suitable to a tall woman like morman's mom (so much potential there). 

Dinner, we made zuchiini & (cumin) curry soup. It was good but a bit strong on the curry and I prefer it more liquidly. It didn't taste just like stock or cream which was great! The hardest part? Grating six zuchinnis. 

Saturday

Fashion Advocate Runway. Luna Park. 

The One Trend Seen at Every Major Show During Fashion Preview Spring 2017

The One Trend Seen at Every Major Show During Fashion Preview Spring 2017

 Photo credits:  Tio To Photography©

One of the very best revelations of the Fashion Preview Spring 2017 presentations was the unveiling of an unsuspected it-colour for the warmer season... Prepare yourself for a brightness overdose and get your freshest whites ready for the melting of the snow because next Spring, our warderobes will be experiencing a total whiteout!

From monochrome outfits, to surprisingly chic slouchy blouses, to new, modern takes on the little white dress, to white accessories for a classy girls' night out, get gussied up with a new HR-approved approach to the stark style and stuck up on some Tide to-go (fears of spillage and stains abound!), as crisp, all-white styles were a fixture on the Spring'17 catwalks.

Spring's whites usually tend to reflect a lovely mix of influences, from Victoriana to virginal dressing. What really stood out at Claudette Floyd for Sring 2017 was the craftsmanship behind every pieces of the collection: fine lace, modern ruffled embellishment, new ways to tie and lace-up garments and delicate cutwork elevated her designs from pretty to infinitely precious.

Worked whites was definitely the theme at Leinad Beaudet Spring 2017 but don't be deceived into thinking this was as straightforward as it looked... Whether you are an adept of the romantic whites and affectionate a good destructured blouse, or an admirer of the clean, precise look of a pop of white on your accessories, the LB aesthetic will chime with your newfound wardrobe clarity.

Precisely white, DUY's vision of Spring 2017 was the orchestration of a wardrobe whiteout in which, the creator sensed an urgent need for purity and calm as opposed to the saturation in dark colours that punctuates our Autumn outfits. As he explored the soothing potential of white throughout his entire collection, he made us the gift of the little white dress in a new, fanciful update that exudes femininity.

In Naïké Spring 2017's case, we're willing to take a chance on crispier whites and separate pieces. There's actually so much you can do starting with a single-colour palette, without feeling like your always dressed in the same way. Plus, white is an approved desk-to-dinner hue that decomplexes the often jolly, often head-aching task of putting together a full look. After all, it's essentially a blank canvas and focal point of an outfit!

For Spring 2017, Helmer is making a case for monochrome and we couldn't be happier! There is something super fresh about ditching dark colours and embracing fairer hues for the warmer temps., in fact, a total white outfit has been a major hit for quite some times now. Make a statement in this foolproof trend and don your whites to get you in the monochromatic mindset next Spring.

If there's one shoe silhouette that reigns supreme for Spring, it is all-white sneakers. In fact, this trend cropped up on everyone from fashion makers to influencers for many seasons now and just last week, the masterminds behing Yoga Jeans proved us that the trend also was a perfect match with your best denim.

The post The One Trend Seen at Every Major Show During Fashion Preview Spring 2017 appeared first on PBTH **

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