Tony and I are getting ready to say goodbye to our little apartment, which has been my favourite of all the places we've lived. I will miss its white walls, sunny balconies and walk-in pantry. But I'm also excited to be moving just down the road, and into an apartment with a newer oven :) This month has been a bit of a scramble, the last week especially, so it's nice to have a pocket of time to write, reflect and take a break from packing boxes.
Feeling:
Relieved to have a new apartment to move into. We didn't expect to move this year but our landlord is moving back to Canberra at short notice, so we spent last weekend inspecting as many properties as we could and working on applications. We saw 11 apartments in less than 24 hours!
When we first found out that we had to move, I was devastated. I love my home, am a homebody and had imagined we'd be here for a little while longer. We signed a lease on a new place within a week, which had been full of uncertainty and stomach flips. Things are settling down now, and the experience has made me more empathetic because it gave me a tiny glimpse into what it's like to juggle something other than work and home.
We started packing this weekend and surprised ourselves by getting through a lot done in a few solid hours. This Momofuku-inspired playlist helped, I also stumbled across some beautiful things in the process like a written tribute to my late grandfather and the readings from our 2014 wedding.
Reading:
Lily Allen's memoir My Thoughts Exactly, which I'm really enjoying. I've been listening to her first two albums as I'm reading about them, and they're so nostalgic for both Tony and me. On weekends, I've been reading celebrity features (!), most recently the Vogue interview with Justin Beiber and Hailey Baldwin, and Miley Cyrus's Vanity Fair cover story.
I've been flipping through Ottolenghi's latest cookbook, Simple, and bookmarking recipes to try. I had borrowed a copy from the library and just before it was due back, Tony's brother and sister-in-law gave me a copy as a belated Christmas present. Yay.
And I'm saving the latest instalment of Single Women and Their Spaces for a packing break, along with Cup of Jo's cheery weekly round up of links.
Eating and cooking:
Lots of stone fruit at the moment, especially peaches and plums. I am definitely feeling those end-of-summer vibes, and am trying to cram in as many sunny things as possible before it's officially autumn. Last weekend we had yellow peach, jamon, hazelnut and rocket salads for a late Sunday lunch. It took 5 minutes to make but felt super luxurious.
There have been peaches on top of muesli and in galettes too. And fish and chips as the sun went down one Saturday night, following an afternoon of packing. I haven't had fish and chips all summer and loved people watching down by the lake - it was so busy, I felt like I was in the middle of a Where's Wally? My favourite thing was seeing people of all ages enjoying the last hours of sun, from little people finding their feet to grandparents who were rugged up and on walkers.
Fried food aside, I've eaten a week's worth of ABC Life recipes. Testing recipes and working with recipe writers has taught me a lot about shopping for food, but also being more flexible in the kitchen when it comes to substitutions.
Recently we've had a run of Heidi's recipes from a tomato, red onion and feta frittata using leftover tomatoes from her magical linguini. There was a can't-be-bothered-to-shop macaroni made with leftover pesto from her no-cook lentil salad (which we had for work lunches), frozen peas, rocket and chilli flakes.
Heidi's often raved about Nigella's chocolate olive oil cake on Instagram, and I had a chance to try it out this week when a colleague turned 40. There was something so calming and satisfying about baking a cake on a Thursday night. We had it with double cream and blackberries and it felt like the very best way to end the work week.
Watching:
We just finished watching Dirty John on Netflix, which was based on a LA Times podcast. It was so intriguing and intense. I have a terrible habit of completely forgetting the plot line of movies I've seen - it turns out that this also applies to podcasts! I don't normally watch thrillers (too scary/gory) but felt more comfortable knowing vaguely where things were headed. We'll get stuck into the latest season of Chef's Table soon :)
Appreciating:
Our lovely friends, family and workmates who kept our spirits up this week - from sending texts to check in, to offers of places to stay if we got stuck, packing dinners and moving day snacks, and rental references too. I always appreciate Tony's calm head in times like these (even when we got a place, my brain skipped ahead and worried about whether it had a laundry and where we might put the toaster!), and our yoga studio is such a calming constant in our lives.
March is going to be fun and busy. My favourite Canberra festival starts on Friday, we'll move house and then have a beach break for the long weekend... and our first trip overseas in many years when we head to Hong Kong. So lots to look forward to!
And on a very random note... I bought a linen shirt in Melbourne (in Sofia Coppola blue!) and was given a peach one for Christmas and have been wearing them non stop.
Life Lately post inspired by Heidi and Pip.
