Weekend links

Hi there! Hope you had a good week. I've been nursing a cold these last few days but I'm on the mend, just in time for the weekend :) We were planning another speedy Sydney trip but have decided to put it off, so I'm hoping to try this Vietnamese tiramisu and plant my new seedlings. Here are a few fun things to share, including a great find from my Dad:

A shy person's guide to street photography.

Waves of feminism - a timeline.

Spring salad bowls.

Growing up in NYC. 

I have a new cookie hero, her name is Dorie Greenspan. She gives great career advice too :)

A beautiful barn and workshop space in country Victoria.

A surprising baking tip.

My kind of engagement shoot.

Double chocolate cookies (which happen to be gluten free).

It's new but I'm already a big fan of this Canberra cafe.

And something from my Dad - The Guardian's 20 best cake recipes (and parts 2, 3 and 4).

Catch you next week x

Spring news + small celebrations

Our first year in Canberra is almost up and so is my contract for work. But on Friday I signed a new one, we renewed our lease for another year and booked a beach house for summer. After a slow start to the week it felt awesome. Here are a few happy snaps from the weekend just past:

At the end of the week I love to clear my head by stopping at the farmers markets on the way home from work. There were heaps of new stallholders last week, including one selling mini bouquets and cookies. I'd been quietly hoping that we'd be able to stay in Canberra, so I bought this little bunch to celebrate.

My usual Saturday morning yoga class was relocated at the last minute to the Nishi Gallery. It's a beautiful (and minimal) concrete space with plenty of skylights, which made for good cloud gazing in some of the more relaxing poses :) 

New flowers seem to be blooming in the gardens that surround our apartment block every day. Lately it's been bearded irises and this little guy (I'm not sure what it is!). Even when I can't see them, I can smell them as soon as I step out onto our balcony. It makes everyday things like watering the pot plants extra nice.

And on Sunday afternoon Tony came back from his trip to Sydney. We went out for big bowls of pasta to catch up and planned to see Woody Allen's new movie but didn't quiet get there, so it's something to look forward to later in the week.

Monday night dinner

Tony's friend Emma had us round for dinner last Monday and it was a relaxing way to start the week. She made a spicy puttanesca, a salad with cheese and served up a plate of chewy almond biscuits and dark chocolate for dessert. Her theory was that Monday night dinners help make the weekend last that little bit longer.

We do most of our entertaining on a Saturday night, when we've had time to tidy up the house, do the shopping and some meal prep. But I really love the idea of simpler meals on weeknights, when everyone's feeling fresh.

The other week I borrowed a trick from my friend Mayaan and ordered a big Turkish feast when our friends Sean and Jill were visiting from Sydney. It made for a really unfussy Friday night dinner, with plenty of leftovers for the long weekend.

Weekend links

Tony's away for work this weekend so I'm going to get a start on my Christmas shopping (it's my favourite time of year!) and go for lots of long walks. I have lots of fun and yummy things to share, I hope you have a relaxing weekend.

This cheesy veggie bake looks so good.

Meditation for real life via Jo.

"My biggest fan is Sam."

Beautiful summer clothes.

This food blog is so clever.

Decorating a space on the cheap.

An Instagram account always makes me laugh via Carla.

Did you listen to the Bowraville podcast? I've just finished episode one. Thanks for recommending it Vanessa :)

And I made this Tarte Tartin cake this week. It was sticky and great. If you try it, be brave and go for the pie dish.

Pretty things

How's your week going? I had a bit of a bumpy start with a few things going wrong at work and not enough sleep. I also think the crazy wind has something to do with it :) So here are a few pretty things to make it all okay, starting with these amazing earrings because I'm starting to feel like wearing glasses and big earrings at the same time is really no big deal.

I messaged my friend Danie about this book the other day and she already had one on order! It came out in the States last week and I've been seeing non-stop great reviews on social media. I'm going to order a copy tonight :)

And finally, we're this close to booking a beach getaway for summer and I've been daydreaming of things to pack. This sunflower pinafore is super cute and 100% cotton too.

Found flowers + what I'm reading

On Sunday, after we'd finally straightened out the house, I picked a few flowers from the gardens that are part of our apartment complex. Everything is in bloom at the moment and even though I felt a little sneaky taking some cuttings, I'm so glad I did.

Right now I'm reading A Year Between Friends: 3191 Miles Apart: Craft, Recipes, Letters and Stories. Every day I'm busting to get home to read a little bit more, even if it's a couple of pages before bed.

The book is based on the 3191 Miles Apart blog, which I discovered a few years ago through a recipe for coconut choc chip cookies. It's a shared blog between two Internet friends, who found each other on Flickr and have been collaborating through photographs for years. They're real life friends now, and the book chronicles a year of their everyday lives and their friendship too.

Inspired by their beautiful photos of everyday life, I snapped these shots late yesterday. I baked a batch of peanut butter granola in between loaves of bread and spent some quiet time reading after a busy few days of catch ups and errands. If you like their blog too, make sure you sign up for their newsletter, it's always a highlight of my Sunday.

P.S I'm also reading The Guest Cat, which I picked up on our Sydney trip. I'm drawn to Japanese fiction but am yet to properly get into this novel. It could be to do with the translation or that fact that I'm only a tiny way in.

Weekend links

Tony has an exhibition opening tonight and we're getting ready to welcome family and friends from Sydney and Wagga Wagga. It should be a busy weekend and so I'm keeping my plans super simple - make it to the farmer's market, go for a walk/run and if there's time a little picnic would be lovely too. Hope you've had a great week.

A beautiful book.

The second US Presidential debate, drawn live.

Plus the making of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump via Siobhan.

How to make classic garlic bread.

I love this muu muu.

May Gibbs x Kip & Co (here's my pick).

Gruyere mac and cheese with caramelised onion.

Did anyone else watch the first episode of Man Up this week? I found it incredibly moving.

A spinach and parmesan quiche for one!

And a new-to-me blog from Melbourne.

Recipes to Try

Earlier this year I read that food writer Ruth Reichl keeps a manila folder labelled 'Recipes to Try'. I love the idea of a physical folder but aside from bookmarks I've stashed in cookbooks, most of my to-make recipes are online. Here's what's high on my list:

Molly Yeh's scallion challah because I'm back into bread making in a big way.

Smitten Kitchen's five cheese pasta bake for the next time I have friends coming round for dinner and red wine.

Osso bucco with braised cabbage and apple relish, which I'm hoping to get to this Sunday while the weather's still cool.

Rice and zucchini noodles with sundried tomato pesto for days where I'm trying to give pasta a break but can't.

This apple and hazelnut cake because it looks so rustic and pretty.

Plus a recipe I've only just remembered - my favourite peanut butter and honey granola.

P.S I have a tahini sheet cake in the oven right now. It was really quick to make and smells delicious!

Sydney weekend

We roadtripped to Sydney on the weekend to celebrate two birthdays and snuck in dinner at a new place and a trip to the beach too. Here are a few snaps:

Weekend links

I went for the loveliest wander after work the other night. I ducked into bookshops, walked past a bunch of different restaurants as they started to fill up and went home when I felt hungry. So after a sleepy start to the week, you could say I am now 100% behind daylight savings :) Here are a few happy things to share:

Julia Child facts.

A surprisingly moving story about an alien abduction.

Curious to try these sourdough brownies.

A sweet baby shower set up.

A crazy great episode from the Radiolab archives.

Hannah Kent has a new book.

This doco captures the creative process so well.

Mini apple cakes for care packages.

Cinnamon Bun Day.

Plus two podcasts I've been listening to this week - Danie put me onto The Lively Show and I loved the episodes with Joy Wilson of Joy the Baker and Joy Cho of Oh Joy! And thanks to Megan for pointing out a new Australian food podcast My Open Kitchen.

Catch you next week!

Summer plans

Do you have plans for the summer holidays? We're almost there. So far we've booked a cute Airbnb in Melbourne to check out the David Hockney exhibition and hear Jad Abumrad speak. Then we'll head to Sydney to spend Christmas with our families - it'll be my nephew's first Christmas :)

Right now we're trying to decide on the third leg of our summer holiday, a little beach stay before it's time to head back to Canberra. We're tossing up between a road trip to the coast (where all Canberrans go!) or renting an apartment near Sydney's northern beaches.

If you have any suggestions, I'm all ears! We've made plenty of weekend trips this year - to Melbourne, Sydney and back to Wagga Wagga - so I'm excited about a holiday that's a bit more substantial.

Photo from my Airbnb wish list :)

Exercise 2.0

This time last year I was a regular gym-goer. Fast forward to this year and I'm only just working out how I exercise in a new city. Here's where I'm at:

I don't belong to a gym.

Towards the end of our time in Wagga Wagga, I was finding my gym routine monotonous and I didn't fit into the gym culture either. When we moved I checked out the gyms near our apartment but I didn't find anything I loved. Plus we live right by the lake, which has plenty of walking and cycling tracks. That said next year I'll join a gym for the colder months - because it was so hard to keep moving and stay well over winter.

My goal is to cycle to work three days a week.

It's a 30-35 minute ride each way and the return trip is just shy of 20km. When I'm organised and ride, I find myself solving problems and coming up with ideas en route. It also clears my head on the way home - something driving in a city doesn't do!

I've found a new yoga teacher - yay!

I was really attached to my teacher in Wagga Wagga, she was encouraging, intuitive and strong. My new teacher is all of those things and funny too. Plus the view isn't half bad :) I aim to go twice a week (and always make it to at least one class) and will often join the free Lululemon class on Sunday, which is especially relaxing when it's held in the park.

I'm definitely not as fit as I used to but but other things have changed since our move. I'm way more confident riding on the road (and around swooping magpies) and I've ridden over 800km in less than a year! Plus I can do the wheel pose in yoga, and one day I hope to hold it for more than a couple of seconds.

What are you doing for exercise these days?