Cafes in Newtown are like this season’s Masterchef. They promise a lot in terms of former reputation and hype, but fail to deliver on the actual experience. The other day, I had a few hours to kill without the little man and went looking for a cafe to read my book in. The options were very slim. I ended up sitting on a communal table at a cafe/bakery with extremely uncomfortable chairs, listening to two sisters decide which soup they were going to eat for lunch. The outer suburbs have been much more promising. Yesterday we took a little trip to Pablo and Rusty’s headquarters in Ryde and were mightily impressed with the offering. It’s not a cafe as such (no food or eating space save a few upturned crates), but we enjoyed the sparkling berry notes in our short black.

Here are some interesting links for your weekend.

On vintage dress patterns…Jessica over at Jelssie gives some handy tips for buying retro dress patterns on eBay.

On health advertising…the pink ribbon does little to raise awareness about cancer, according to a study published in the Journal of Marketing Research. The study claims gender-specific campaigns lower a woman’s perceived risk of cancer, making her less likely to get herself checked out or to give to charity. I’ve always thought the same is true about anti-smoking ads. What do you think?

The carbon tax for dummies…did you watch last week’s carbon tax announcement and secretly have no idea what the pollies were talking about? Here is a 2 minute animation that explains the basics.

Happy weekend, lovelies xoxo

I’ve had babies on the brain this week, as some good friends have just given birth to a little girl. On the other side of the world, Natalie Portman and Benjamin Millepied have announced the name of the newborn son. It’s – wait for it – Aleph. That’s the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, so it seems a bit like calling your child ‘A’ or ‘Alpha’. Like/dislike? Would you give your child a made-up name? I probably wouldn’t, as I’m a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to names (though I am fond of the name of TomKat’s little girl, Suri).

Here’s some links for you to enjoy this weekend.

On baby blankets... Ali shared a link to this baby blanket at the purl bee and my heart just sang looking at all the colour combinations. So much better than the traditional powder blue and pastel pink!

On Gen Y guys…Ben often draws nifty cartoons on his blog and this one particularly made me giggle.

On kids and facebook…Marketer and mother of three Sharon Williams says children should be taught how to brand themselves online. While I baulked at the marketing speak (there’s something sinister about an eight-year-old girl creating an online brand for herself), I could see her point. A snippet of how Williams advises her children: “(social media) is like a tattoo…Imagine sitting on your shoulder as you’re typing the local justice of the peace, your future boyfriend, the man you’re going to marry, the mother-in-law of the man you’re going to marry and your future employer for the job of your dreams.”

have a good weekend! xoxo

What are you up to this weekend?

The husband and I are going to a wedding up north; our second one since the little man was born. As I was a bridesmaid for the first wedding (cue flashbacks of desperately trying to pump breast milk in a strapless silk dress), my semi formal clothes are still bundled in a suitcase somewhere, at the very back of our closet. Hopefully I’ll be able to find something to wear…and that it will still fit.

Here’s some reading for your weekend:

On losing your virginity…I’ve mentioned before my high regard for Ariel Levy. Yesterday I came across an essay she wrote for Sugar In My Bowl about losing her virginity (republished in Guernica). I really think she is a fabulous writer. The piece is an evocative, yet sobering read. It also made me glad I saved sex for marriage.

On baby bags…here are some pics of Cup of Jo’s Jo Goddard sporting a very chic ‘non-baby bag’ baby bag. I’ve been thinking of making the switch for some time from our giant baby bag to something smaller and more stylish. Any suggestions?

On helping sick friends…Bruce Feiler, author of The Council of Dads: A Story of Family, Friendship and Learning How to Live and bone cancer survivor, has a list of things you should never say to a friend with a life threatening illness. A really helpful read.

Have a lovely and relaxing weekend, everyone! xoxo

image by JMC Photos

The biggest decision I’m making this weekend is whether or not to watch Black Swan on DVD (oh the exciting life we lead). I wanted to see it in the cinema, but chickened out after I found out a) it wasn’t, strictly speaking, a ballerina movie and b) a friend spent the entire movie cowered underneath her jacket. Natalie Portman won an Oscar for her performance and I’ve read great reviews, so perhaps it’s worth braving the thriller aspect in order to appreciate the artistic merits of the film. What do you think? In my film student days, this decision would have been a no-brainer. I’m getting quite nanna-like as the years go on.

Anyway. Here’s some things I’ve been reading this week.

On depression…Karen Beilharz and some talented people have put together Kinds of Blue, a collection of short comics about experiencing depression. I had a read online and found each story so absorbing. You can help publish the journal here.

On the Dalai Lama…Karl Stefanovic from the Today Show tells a lame pizza shop joke to a Dalai Lama, only to receive a somewhat bemused reaction. Awkward. I love the way Karl laughs at his own joke.

On Asian parenting…has anyone actually read Amy Chua’s controversial parenting manifesto ‘Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother‘? Jean gives an insightful review of the book, highlighting its main problem and some things western parents can learn from Chua.

On  chocolate cake…a friend recently passed on a super easy chocolate cake recipe which I’ve baked a few times now with great success, but I’m keen to try this doozy of a cake at Drool Factor. Doesn’t it look decadent?

Happy weekend all! xoxo

Image by Corie Howell

The beauty of not having a full time job is long weekends sneak up on you, like a pleasant surprise on friday afternoon. Ours is unusually packed, with lots of fun things planned. I’m also going to my first knit-in, where hopefully I’ll be able to pick up some tips from other more able knitters.

Here’s what I’ve been reading this week online:

On copyrighted images…one of the trickiest things about blogging is posting images without breaking any copyright laws. Here is a helpful article and flow chart from Design Sponge on how to properly credit images in your posts.

On marital love…Piper, Carson and Keller have 116 years of marriage between them and share their insights on this video. Love this Bonhoeffer quote: “It is not your love that sustains the marriage, but from now on, the marriage that sustains your love.”

On odd fashion trends…According to Emma from media blog Girl With A Satchel, pastel coloured hair (or rather pastel coloured streaks) is now in. You can blame the Olsen twins for this one.

On dad jokes…Richard Glover is a very funny man. I had a snigger over his piece in the SMH and the yes, even smiled at the dad jokes in it (the husband laughed uproariously – not a good sign).

Have a fabulous weekend, everyone! xoxo

*Image is by Djinn76 at Flickr

I’ve been looking forward to this weekend. It will be the first one in a long time where all three of us are relatively healthy and germ-free. Lots of sunny walks, cups of coffee, pilates, lazy newspaper reading and home-made pancakes to be had.

Here are some things I’ve enjoyed reading this past week:

Apparently the world is ending this weekend. Today, to be exact. The US Christian group that formulated this date seems a tad loopy, but I’m enjoying Twitter’s #endofworldregrets.

With high profile adultery in the headlines (hello, Arnold Schwarzenegger), Tracy Clark-Flory over at Salon says a bandaid solution to cheating men isn’t the answer.

Sarah Wilson shares 17 cooking tips for ‘real wellness‘. I was skeptical at first, but some of them are really interesting, like grating tumeric (which has anti-inflammatory properties) on eggs. My favourite tip: keeping a can of coconut milk in the freezer to eat like ice-cream when you want a sweet treat.

Green Beanery roaster Lawrence Solomon has written a controversial piece on whether Fair Trade coffee actually benefits poor farmers. A snippet:  “(Fair Trade) discriminates against the very poorest of the world’s coffee farmers, most of whom are African, by requiring them to pay high certification fees…the majority of Third World farmers are not only too poor to pay the certification fees, they’re also too poor to pay for the fertilizers and the pesticides that would disqualify coffee as certified organic.”

On the subject of coffee, the fabulous Pablo & Rusty’s (one of my favourite cafes, and not just because my husband used to be a barista there!) has just launched their new website.

Jean over at In All Honesty is reading From Fear to Freedom; a book about the pressure women feel to live up to the standard for perfect womanhood. I’ve added the book to my ever-growing reading list. Check out her full review here.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone! xoxo

Especially for autumn.  Doesn’t the sky look deceptively blue and clear in the mornings? I race downstairs anticipating sunny warmth, only to have to run back up upstairs and throw on more layers of clothes.

Here are some things I’ve enjoyed reading this past week:

Laurel has started a new blog where she writes brilliant haiku poems. I haven’t thought about haikus since school. I love the whimsical lay-out of her poems. Just gorgeous.

‘International anti-porn campaigner’ (what a cool title) Prof. Gail Dines criticises the slutwalk phenomenon soon to hit Sydney. A snippet: “Do you think that a young women is going to be helped if she looks in the mirror and thinks the word ‘slut’?”

Jo Goddard says she kisses her baby. On the mouth. She wants to know if people think its lovely or inappropriate (me, I think it’s fine. One of the little man’s favourite things to do in the morning is press his wet face against mine in bed. Too precious.)

I’ve been enjoying Kerri Sackville’s blog lately, Life and Other Crises. Kerri is a mum and a hilarious writer who I first encountered on Mia Freedman’s blog Mamamia. She’s also just published a book and is so honest and self deprecating about the whole process, she makes me feel like maybe – just maybe – I could do it one day. Love.

Here is a thoughtful post on Practical Theology for Women about motherhood. I like this line: “Motherhood is not the greatest good for the Christian woman. Whether you are a mom or not, don’t get caught up in sentimentalism that sets it up as some saintly role. The greatest good is being conformed to the image of Christ.”

Finally, how cute is this baby beanie from the website hardtofind? If this seems a random way to end my post, consider that it’s the little man’s first birthday next week (nudge nudge!).

Hope you’re staying warm, whatever you’re doing this weekend. xoxo