camping.

I don’t know what it is, but lately, I’ve been craving time outdoors. So this Friday after work, Rufus and I bundled up our newly acquired camping gear and set off with my cousin, her boyfriend, and their friend; to the wilderness.






















We had a fire burning the whole time, drank beer, and told spooky stories as we huddled around the fire at night. We toasted marshmallows on sticks, collected firewood, ate egg (and bacon for some) sandwiches every morning, boiled water for coffee in the Billy, and caught yabbies. We went bushwalking and collected quartz, played Uno and ate crisps around our little plastic table, saw a pod of kangaroos, and woke with the sun every morning to the sound of kookaburras laughing. 

We were in the middle of nowhere – no showers, no toilet blocks, no phone reception – just us, and the great outdoors. It was exactly what I needed; and I cannot wait to go again.

bendigo.

A few weekends ago, I went and stayed with my family in Bendigo (previous trips here, here and here). It was incredibly cold, but my Aunty’s warmly decorated home (along with the fireplace) kept me cozy. I spent time with my cousin, drank red wine and ate vindaloo with my family, reminisced on old photos in the evening, and woke up to pancakes.

In the morning, my Aunty and I donned gumboots, scarves and jackets, and went walking through their 25 acres of land – which I never even knew they had. We saw kangaroos, sheep (both domestic and wild), huge birds, and many-a-foxhole.

spot the kangaroo?

This farmhouse always manages to ground me; return me to myself. I think it’s the quiet.

slices of weekend: caitlyn.

Thai food and red wine; reality TV; truffled hollandaise with mushrooms, asparagus and eggs on sourdough; too much shopping; deep and meaningfuls; mini pizzas; miserable weather; movie night and floor naps; autumn bruschetta and squirty bricks; headbutting a lightbulb; dancing – so much dancing; bohemia and art galleries; vegan cupcakes; dumplings for dinner; traffic jams at 6am; no time for hugs.














I love it when Caitlyn comes to play.

Mark and Wingman got married!

Let me just preface this post with: I am SO sorry about my layout. I tried to fix my subscription button and ended up ruining the whole thing. Never fear! Georgia of wherever we find ourselves is on the case with her magical skills with code. Thanks Georgia! I’m so sorry!

So, a couple of weekends ago, Rufus and I took a quick trip to Fiji to see my cousin marry his beautiful fiance. 









The ceremony was during sunset, on the edge of the ocean; it was beyond stunning. It was low key and gorgeous – exactly what the happy couple had wanted – with more photos taken than I had ever seen before! After the ceremony we were serenaded along the beachfront to a big communal table where the festivities would begin. I spent the evening drinking wine, eating copious quantities from the beautiful buffet, dancing with my family (Elton John’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight may have been played more than once), and laughing myself silly. I even caught the bouquet!

A wedding photographer I am not (please excuse me while I reestablish my editing style); I hope I captured even half of the excitement, beauty and love we felt on the day. Watching my father dance to Gangnam Style surrounded by family members new and old is a visual I certainly won’t forget!

2013.

Happy New Year, friends! How did you see off 2013? I spent the night drinking gin and tonics, watching (and laughing at) friends play drinking games, dancing my butt off, and kissing Rufus at midnight under the illegal fireworks of our friends’ neighbours. I smiled so much my cheeks ached.

Unfortunately, 2013 wasn’t my greatest year, and I’m more than happy to see it go. I struggled professionally and therefore financially, and my mental health suffered significantly. However, some really wonderful things happened in 2013; we bought Jango into our family, acquired (and subsequently lost) our two fish; Franklin and Leonardo, we fed a sunbear named Akbar, we ate a lot of sushi, we travelled to Melbourne (twice) and Malaysia and the Yorke Peninsula, I attended a best friend’s “hens” celebrations (and laughed my face off), we watched two of our favourite couples get married, and welcomed a new addition to our friendship circle!

The first few days of 2014 have been absolutely incredible. If the rest of the year can continue this way I will be one happy girl! We’ve spent time with family over bottles of red wine and barbecue in the backyard. We spent an afternoon on a picnic blanket with friends; drinking sangria and red wine, eating kimchi quesadilla, and listening to bush bands in the summer sunshine (Despite the horrible sunburn I woke up with the next day, it was one of the best days of my life thus far. Yes, really). I’ve spent some one-on-one time with Lisa and her sweet daughter Evie, which I wholeheartedly cherished. We spent an afternoon at a pub with some wonderful souls – drinking jugs of beer and cider, laughing heartily – and ate Korean food together for dinner. So, in summary, I’ve done a lot of drinking and a lot of laughing, and that’s just fine by me!

I don’t have many “resolutions” this year, after last year‘s absolute failure! (Reach my saving goal? Quite the opposite. Read at least 12 books? Noooope. Maintain my GPA? Not so much.) But I do have a few little things I’d like to keep in focus this year: I’d like to give up sugar (with the help of Sarah Wilson‘s I Quit Sugar cookbook), I’d like to dedicate more time and energy to being a better friend/daughter/sister/girlfriend/human being – replying to emails and messages promptly, acting on thoughtful ideas for friends – and I’d really, really like to get our finances under control. I suppose the overarching theme here is mindfulness; eating mindfully, being mindful in my relationships, and becoming mindful of my finances. So let’s see how that goes!

Here’s to 2014 – may it bring you and your families health, happiness, and new adventures!

kuala lumpur.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! I hope you had a beautiful Christmas period with plenty of family, friends, and fantastic food – I know I did! It’s been a long time and I’m so excited to share what’s been going on with ya’ll! In my last slices of weekend post, I coyly hinted that we had some big things on the horizon.
Firstly – as you can probably infer from my title – Rufus and I went to Malaysia for a brief holiday. It was absolutely fantastic and I plan to inundate my blog with photos very shortly. Secondly, um, Rufus and I are moving to Melbourne! I was lucky enough to get a job at a Melbourne university (for which I could not be more thankful), and we do love the big, exciting city (as evidenced here and here), so we’ll be leaving early in the new year! I’m so incredibly excited (and nervous, and a little overwhelmed) – I’m looking forward to exploring and eating at a thousand new restaurants and living (and working!) with one of my favourite humans in the entire world, and I fully intend on documenting every single step along the way!

First things first though – Malaysia! Our first stop was Kuala Lumpur.

We ate some absolutely delicious Indian food on the first night, then spent the rest of our time wandering the streets of the city at length, peering through the windows of designer shops in the multitude of fancy shopping malls throughout the city. The food was so wonderfully tasty and spicy – Rufus especially enjoyed eating curry and rice for breakfast every morning! We met some beautiful little animals and saw some awe-inspiring temples at the Batu Caves just outside the city… Oh! And we fed papaya to baby elephants!

That little guy was my favourite! As someone who is very much affected by animal cruelty, I was so relieved to find the elephant sanctuary so environmentally friendly. The elephants are rehabilitated after injuries or run-ins with farmers of the palm oil plantations, and set back into the wild in more appropriate areas, where they are often able to be found by their herd!

We were expecting just another big, dirty city, but we actually had such a great time in Kuala Lumpur! There was so much to do – so many day trips to take – we left feeling as though we could have used an extra couple of nights in the city!

Next up: the Cameron Highlands.

slices of weekend(s).

Um, well, it’s been a while. So much is going on right now, most of which I don’t know how to articulate, and some of which I can’t tell you about just yet. So let’s focus on some little things for now.

My weeks have been filled with happiness and good food – of course. Breakfasts at Rosey’s (rosemary mushrooms with smashed avocado and sambal on rye), The Annex (hazelnut croissants), home (blueberry and lemon yoghurt pancakes), and Zest (smokey baked beans and smashed avocado). Cheese tasting, chocolate tasting, beer tasting, and wine tasting on a mini-trip to Hahndorf. Photography exhibitions at the Adelaide museum, goodbyes at airports at 6am, movies and meals with friends as part of the Adelaide Film Festival, Amazing Race marathons after work, and lots of bunny cuddles.

I haven’t been living very mindfully lately; I haven’t taken photos in a couple of weeks, which is something that – despite judgmental glances and scoffs from fellow diners – I genuinely enjoy. Ah well; I’m enjoying life – you’ll just have to take my word for it! I’ve eaten some delicious food, drunk some amazing wine, and laughed so hard I cried on more than one occasion. I love my little family.

the first weekend in Spring.

This weekend was the most perfect start to Spring. Market wanderings, a food truck festival, first iced coffees of the season, board games with friends, and a long alfresco lunch (with homemade sangria).

On Saturday morning, Rufus and I headed to the Adelaide Central Markets for some foodie inspiration. I love the Central Markets, and, I admit; haven’t been there in months. We grabbed some coffees and meandered past fruit and veg stands, bakeries, stalls filled with spices and grains, and new modern charcuteries. Although we couldn’t buy anything, we nibbled at a couple of gluten-free cinnamon donuts and made mental notes for what to buy next time.

We caught the tram a few stops out of the city for Fork on the Road food truck festival! Adelaide’s first attempt at food truck festivities was a huge success. There were some really wonderful, creative trucks with absolutely delicious cuisine on offer. We opted for a hot dog and a vego burrito (respectively) and nibbled on some cheese balls while we drank beer and listened to live music in the sunshine. A few more tram stops saw us playing totem tennis and wandering through That Dapper Market – an indie market for local artists and their cute wares. In the evening, we caught up with friends over some board games and red wine. We spent five hours wandering around in the sunshine on Saturday, and sleep came easily.

After my solo walk early on Sunday morning, Rufus and I grabbed some iced coffees and headed out for the day. We wandered through the sunshine at the farmers market – marvelling at how the nicer weather improves everyone’s mood – before heading to his parents’ house for a Father’s Day feast! As always, his Mum went all out on nibbles, salads, vegetarian bean burgers, and homemade sangria. For dessert, the others had cheesecake while I had homemade tropical sorbet and chocolate-covered strawberries. After we’d feasted, we sat in the sunshine while Rufus’ Dad played the squeezebox.

Weekends like these fill me with gratitude for just about everything in my life. I’m feeling revived and optimistic, though I’m also deeply nostalgic for our adventure to America last year (the beautiful weather evokes bittersweet memories of our trip), and as always, just a little sad to see the weekend end. With tired eyes and slightly-sunburned skin we saw a sneak-peak of summer, and I couldn’t be more excited.

slices of weekend (birthday edition!)

I suppose the fun really started on Wednesday night – Rufus’ birthday! Rufus and I went out with his Mum, Dad and Nanna for some birthday tapas; despite the bitingly cold wind. We shared a carafe of sangria, a few plates of very tasty Spanish food, and some warm, indulgent churros for dessert.

On Friday, I ate burgers with one of my favourite people in the world (remember my Melbourne trip in February? And then in April?). We drank imported beers at Jack Ruby (a little American-style bar), and snacked on free popcorn, as we spoke about… well, everything. She has the ability to put everything in my life back in perspective. She honestly makes me a better human. I miss her quite terribly, truth be told.

In the evening, we went to Melt Pizzeria for Rufus’ surprise birthday dinner – I’d been planning it for months! (How I kept it a secret I will never know, as I am a terrible liar.) We sat around long tables and laughed for hours; filling our plates with pizza and tapas, and sipping on really great wine and beer. Rufus’ face was so sweet and endearing as he blushed and turned shy with the sudden increase of dinner-guests!

Saturday involved pancakes for breakfast, coffees and op-shopping and exploring a new part of town, a trip to our favourite Greek supermarket, long walks through the suburbs, and a beautiful engagement party for my cousin. It was such a wonderful day, made perfect with a night of laughter and silliness with my family over a few glasses of wine. I couldn’t have been any happier when I fell into bed on Saturday night!

Sunday morning was delicious.

Sauteed kale with chili flakes and goats cheese, eggs on wholemeal crumpets (with a little blackberry-vanilla bean jam), and a cup of tea. I flicked through blogs while Rufus played video games, and the morning started perfectly. We spent a little time at the farmer’s market before heading to his parents’ house to do our washing, where we cuddled on the couch and watched nature documentaries for hours. In the evening, we ran down to the beach to catch the sunset. We ate noodles for dinner, and watched cartoons with Jango before bed. After this weekend, I’m bursting with gratitude for the people in my life.

I’m starting to shake off the winter blues as I get more excited about Spring. I’m making plans for picnics and barbeques and wine-and-cheese nights and after dinner walks. I don’t know exactly what’s renewed my optimism and inspiration for life, but I’m glad it did.

slices of weekend.

This weekend a switch flicked. A decision was made. The idea came back into my head that I had the power to change my happiness. And so I did. With a warm bowl of oats with peanut butter, I did.
 

Rufus and I spent Friday night with our respective work-friends; I was at Casablabla for tapas and wine, he was at a pub for “gentleman drinks” (which entailed him shaving the chin out of his handsome beard and donning a bowtie, vest, and shirt – he was adorable). I had so much fun – we all got giggly and chattered as we ate, and I danced in front of an entire restaurant with my boss’ 6-year-old daughter. The night ended responsibly – with glasses of water and sleep before midnight.

Saturday morning was rather slow, nonetheless. We went for a walk, and watched Jango as he lay in the sunshine next to his bowl. In the evening, we celebrated my Dad’s birthday at Nanna’s house. All I can say is that I love my immediate family, and that I am ridiculously lucky to have my Rufus.

Sunday morning was lovely. We started the morning slowly, in bed. The rain fell steadily outside – pounding on the roof, tapping at the windows, dripping from the eaves. The sound was so simple: soothing. Rufus breathed quietly next to me; taking in the deep, calming breaths that sleep brings. Jango made gentle sounds in his hutch as he rearranged his toys. I read old Kinfolk magazines while Rufus slept, and felt inspired.

We went to the farmer’s market (after I made chia puddings for breakfast) and dodged the raindrops. It was a good morning! We tasted some delicious goats cheeses and were given a free (half-block) sample! Afterwards, we came home and took solace from the weather with lunch and a movie. In the afternoon, I went out to Bikram yoga (I love it!) while Rufus played video games, and in the evening we ate a quick dinner at Nandos before seeing Elysium at the cinema.

I miss this space.