This ad campaign from ralph lauren to sell kids clothes is rather cute.

I love the way that the little kiddies are surrounded by a hand drawn environment. It brings me back to when I was little and for some reason, always wanted to live in a 2D world, kind of like this.



The way you can look inside the specific kid's wardrobe is also wonderful. They all have three looks, and they are soo cute! I especially think Willow and Zoe are adorable! :)

This is my nightmare.

Mashed sweet potatoes and scrambled eggs meal = just been to dentist and has sore gums

Because of my sinful behavour in my early 20s and genetic DNA and other various factors, my gums aren't my best friends the last few years. I have been seeing a periodontist to fix me. I dread my visits to her (even tho she is the nicest dentist/periodontist I have ever met)and today I had to have one of those 'deep cleans' which means lots of little local anasthetic around my gums.

Its been 5 hours since the local has been put in and I am just starting to feel normal again (ie not like I have a big fat lip and feel like I look like a duck.)  Phil hasn't got the best set of gums either and so we both visit the same periodontist, tho Phil is usually the hero and Im the chicken.  Makes me think, if we have kids, the poor child will be dragged religiously to the dentist, no ifs or buts about it. I guess my teeth were completely fine (and they still are - no fillings at all at 29.5 years old) but I slacked off on worrying about teeth and gums when I was in my partying days. Oh I sure am paying now.

So, I guess the lesson is, go see your dentist regularly, if you don't want chaos to reign in your mouth later on.

(There are those who are very lucky and completely abuse their teeth and gums but still don't suffer any repercussions. They are truly blessed. Jealous.)

image from http://www.legaljuice.com/dentist_patient_nightmare-thumb.jpg

While reading Lainiesips.com (a lovely blog about tea), I came across an ingenious teapot that I first saw in Dali, Yunnan Province in China. We were on our honeymoon around Yunnan, where we were taken to a famous artist's house. It was a spectacularly designed house with modern and old china mixed together to create a very zen feel. It was there, relaxing in their courtyard garden that I first saw this teapot. It takes tea making to the next (easier) level. Yay, no more accidentaly spilling the tea leaves back in my cup. No more floaties. I only hope the mesh is fine enough to keep all my little fine rooibos leaves in the strainer!

I've ordered it and will be back to report if it IS as good as I remembered it. Very exciting! (well for tea aficionados anyway)

View of the artist's house in Dali, Yunnan province, China

View from the suspended 'balcony'

Me hanging out on the balcony

On top of one part of the house is a mirrored wall, ready for tai chi, yoga, kung fu practice

View across Erhai Lake from the artist's house

Sewing adventures ...

While I was blog surfing a month or so ago, I came across Freckled Nest's 'Home Ec' Class.

It was just the thing I was looking for. Tutorials stay up online for a whole year! And if you run into trouble you can always ask the teachers via chat or comments section. There is even a 'student's lounge' on flickr where we can show each other what we made and talk about all things sewing :)
I have tried to learn sewing a couple of times. Each time, I enrolled into some 1 week class at Spotlight or Lincraft, only to have them tell me to pick a simple pattern and some material and sit at a machine and off we go. I found it really hard without knowing much about the sewing machine I was using, not much useful help, and trying to read a pattern straight away.

This is what's different with these tutorials from Freckled Nest. They start off with the most basic of projects and in each project you learn a different skill. It makes much more sense to learn that way. Plus you don't even learn how to read a pattern till towards the end of the course. I have only finished one project so far. It went okay I think, I did get better as I went along, but the ric rac edging was a bit of a challenge. Trying to sew straight, was much harder than I thought!

Anyway, here is a pic of my first project.

spotty and stripey napkins :)

The next project is going to have some odd looking fabric. (I am just using old scraps etc) But I have no idea how it's going to go so don't want to buy any fabulous fabrics just yet :)

Cake in the shape of New Zealand

I am still in the search for the right cake to make for Phil's bday party. (Not even any invites have gone out, but I have set myself to the task.) This is the second cake in 3 days. OMG.

On Sunday I attempted a simple butter cake recipe from the Food Ideas Magazine which I love. However I found their cake to be too dry. My cousin, Lorraine suggested I try a chiffon cake. So off I went on the internets to try and find a good chiffon cake recipe. I came across this one from asweetpeachef.com

It looked divine, but of course, I deviated slightly from the recipe. First of all, I didn't use 2 nine inch spring form tins. And 2, I didn't use canola oil, I used olive oil (which seemed completely fine afterwards).

Phil suggested I make a cake the shape of the land of the long white clouds. Ah, what a genius idea, (I did think of it myself a week or so previously, but put the thought out of my head as I couldn't find any cake tins of the shape of NZ, nor could I find any pics of a NZ shaped cake on the web. With Phil's encouragement, I went full steam ahead.

NZ shaped cake meant, I went for a square tin and a loaf tin. I didn't have bigger tins than these, so it would have to do. The cake wasn't huge, but would probably suffice if I made a batch in a normal shape.
I also had one of those days, where I was a complete klutz. I poured the egg white instead of the olive oil into the dry ingredients and had to start over again. I knocked over a few things. But a cake did end up taking shape, and I manage to ice it with the 7 minute frosting. It did take well over 4 hours though, with the toasting of the coconut, f***up with the ingredients, cooling of the cake, cutting of the cake into NZ shaped and icing it. All happened just in time for me to go to art class at night! So here's some pics of my chiffon cake adventures...(and it does taste great, but Im not 100% sure Im going to make this cake or this shape for the day.. its a lot of work.)

coconut shreds just about to be toasted

cakes just out of the oven, this is when I really should turn them upside down straight away!

Finished NZ shaped cake

A pic of the overall country :) (just ignore the side parts - offcuts of the cake and sorry stewart island just couldn't stand up properly so it was eaten.)

Here are some pics from my exhibition opening at Eggless. My bridesman, Ben took the photos :) Thanks ben!

love the lanterns

Dan (with one of the twins), Dr Mike and Phil :)

Inside the funky dessert cafe, Eggless

Jamie, myself and Loana (my bridesman's brother and mum) :) So sweet for coming to support me!

Tom, Ryan and Mark

speeches...!

Tony and Humna (hasn't she got a gorgeous smile on!?)

The wall with my paintings on it. The otherside was taken up entirely by a cute mural :)

Miriam, Becky and Abi (so colourful!)

turkish delight icecream - this is divine, unfortunately this made it on the menu after I had done all the paintings, otherwise I would have loved to interpret this and paint it!

green tea tiramisu (front) pear and honeycomb cheesecake (back)

So Im thinking of making a cake for Phil's birthday... then I came across this:

The cakes that Maggie from Magpie's Cake creates are just divine, sophisticated and so understated. I wish I had even 1/4 of this level of skill in making cakes. Perhaps phil will just have to settle for some cupcakes and some coloured icing :) Need to start practising asap!

This just brightens up my day (uh actually night). What a wonderfully bright and colourful idea to bring attention to this area in Rio de Janeiro! Going home would be such a delight!
image from http://www.favelapainting.com/santa-marta

 My weekend has been a bit colourful too! My friend Humna Mustafa collaborated with a couple of other artists, Nick Graalman and Erin Lykos - to create a magical exhibition opening called "Elements".

L-R Humna Mustafa, Erin Lykos and Nick Graalman

It was amazing, and there was a lot of thought put into it. The most beautiful part I think, was when after the speech, the three artists lighted up little oil lamps and then everyone lighted their own little oil lamps, one by one. Spreading the light. Suddenly the whole backyard was brighter, lit up by many little oil lamps. It was very special!

Crowd getting settled in, ready for the speeches...

everyone lights each others'oil lamps

 

 

 

... and voila, the whole garden is lighted up!

shop space.. where you can purchase Erin and Humna's awesome work and Nick's timelapse DVD!

Holly, myself and Sarah, yep we're the little elves in this shop. :)

images by anT photography (the talented Tanty!)

The Dessert First exhibition last night was a blast! I felt so loved and supported by family and friends that came out to the opening!

The choc yogo cake and banana bread made by Eelin at Eggless was divine, and everything went smoothly. I even managed to sneak a little joke in my mini speech (and lucky enough, people actually laughed! I did ask one particular friend to laugh loudly if no one else did :))

It was a shorter opening than usual and there was no wine involved... what no wine? At an exhibition opening? Unheard of! But yes.. it was more difficult this time as it was held at a dessert cafe with no liquour license. I did manage to sell 6 pieces, so Im totally stoked! Its not about selling but its nice when your work is appreciated by people so much, they want to buy it :)

Pics of the opening will posted later when I get it from my mate Ben (who was nice enuf to photograph for me last night!)

Tonight is actually his opening, he is having a group exhibition called 'Skrambled Eggs' I can't wait to catch up with the crew again tonight to see Ben's work!!! Wine is involved this time too :P yay!

On the other hand, Phil gave his notice of resignation today. He is going to be a full time App man! Im very proud of him for taking the plunge into the world of 'working for himself' instead of 'the man'. We tried coming up with some interesting names for his new business, there are a few that made the final cut, even if they are slightly weird. Tho for the next 6 months we will have to cut back a bit while he works to build the business. Maybe back to the land of part time/casual work for the both of us. It's all very exciting!

Images from http://dbites.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/eggless-goodwood/ and
 http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2008/11/021782.htm

It is absoloutely freezing here in Adelaide at the moment, so hot and hearty soup was on my mind.

Phil was actually feeling like a hearty meat soup, but as I don't love to cook meat much, I just bought him a scotch fillet for him to cook himself and proceded to cook the soup for both of us.

Yes steak, soup and crusty bread for husband. Soup and crusty bread for wife. (spoil him much?)

Anyway, its the first time I've tried this recipe and its awesome! It's dairy free to but still has that creamy taste. (thanks sebago potatoes!)

Roasted capsicum soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large brown onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
500g sebago potatoes, peeled, chopped
270g jar chargrilled capsicum, drained and chopped
4 medium tomatoes, chopped
3 cups of vegetable stock
1/4 cup fresh coriander leaves


Method:

1) Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring for 3 minutes or until onion has softened. Add tomato, capsicum and potato. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.

2) Add stock. Season with pepper. Cover. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until potato is tender. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

3) Add coriander. Blend, in batches, until smooth. Serve.

(Note, I didn't blend in batches, I just used a stick blender and wizzed it in the big pot. I also didn't chop up the capsicum.. since we were going to wizz it all later on anyway.)

Oh and it is so delish! (This post should really be on my food blog.. which I have also been very tardy with!)

I didn't think of posting this soup recipe on here till I was half way through my bowl, so you'll have to excuse the messy bowl and half eaten bread...) :)

EXHIBITION OPENING THIS THURSDAY!

It's part of the South Australian Living Artist Festival where thousands of exhibitions are holding place around this creative state for 3 weeks.

The details are on the flyer (left) should you like to join us for the opening, or pop by one evening to Eggless Dessert Cafe.

This series of paintings are matched to the desserts of the month at Eggless Dessert Cafe, a collaborative effort between the talented dessert chef, Eelin, and myself.

You should really try Eggless' desserts if you haven't before. They are delicious, experimental, ever changing and decently priced. They are only open at night from 8pm, on Weds - Sun and always packed. The cafe has a great atmosphere and fantastic service. I am a big fan :)

Its a very busy few weeks as I hop along to all my friends' exhibition openings and also try and see the work on offer out there all over the state. The festival has gotten bigger and bigger over the last decade, and is now 3 weeks instead of 2!

So, I am the most irregular blogger you have ever met. In fact, Im not even sure I should be called a blogger.

Anyway, I stumbled across this cute little blog the other day and decided to join up in the 'Secret Pal's program. Its like kris kindle in australia, without the christmas festivites attached to it. I think its really sweet idea. Makes me feel like a little kid again.

http://www.justinandjustine.com/2010/07/secret-pals.html

Im looking forward to surprising my secret pal soon! :)



image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/barbian7/310047424/