knit picks

see what I did there?

I would be so happy if all of my friends wore these all of the time, including me.

I am obsessed with All Knitwear, ever since I saw it in a shop on Gertrude Street that was shut every time I walked past. Admittedly I only walked past at night, until about two months ago when I walked past in the middle of the day, and it was open. I went in and found that these sweaters and minis and scarves are even better in person than through the window/online. The shop is called Dagmar Rousset and is full of really great things. Please go there if you are in Melbourne. You could even get french lessons there if you wanted, which you should.

If you're in Auckland, which I think a few of you are, All Knitwear is stocked at Douglas + Bec in St Mary's Bay, a shop which I don't think existed when I lived there.

it has been a while

Things I have done recently that might be of interest:

Went to an incredible food show at Victoria Park. We had free tickets and wandered around stuffing our faces with cured meats and cheeses and ciders and breads and chocolates and NO VEGETABLES. There was an unattended table with a giant plate of shredded roast duck on it and I ate heaps of it. It made me spin around slowly with my arms stretched out in the fashion of Bill Murray in Ghostbusters after he meets up with Sigorney Weaver after her orchestra rehearsal. If you know what I mean. Oh and fried HALOUMI, too. We stayed there, just eating, for four hours. Four of the best hours of my life. 

Then I went to Tawaharanui with some pals and we basked in the sun and New Zealand's ridiculous beauty and built a boat out of sand. Seriously, that beach is one of the most beautiful in the world. New Zealand's beaches tend to be surrounded by rolling hills covered in little sheep, which is pretty idyllic. The water was clear and warm. It was a nice way to end a really sad week. I know two people who lost loved ones last week and along with the horribly sad Pike River Mine...well, I think we were all in dire need a good surf battering. 

to do

It seems this blog has spiralled into a stream of what we did this week/weekend lists and seventies adoration. That's okay, I'm not sure what it spiraled from and whether this was a downwards spiral either.

Here's why I'm happy: it's a bright Friday afternoon and after work I am going to drink beer in the sun with a sweet girl, and tomorrow with a sweet boy in another sunny spot (I hope), this weekend I'm planning to go to the giant hardware store and buy paint for my bike and a friend's, finish my book, bake this cake, transplant the seedlings from my windowsill to the garden (despite the impending house move - it would be a waste not to plant them...), listen to this and go to a barbeque to raise funds for a friend who was arrested last week for swearing at a police man who swore at him first.

currently

 Life's photos of the Hells Angels circa 1965, especially the ladies. Go look through all of them, immediately.

Vogue Paris covers are also worth trawling through, obviously.

And I love this disgruntled chair by Hector Mamet.

me too

something i've never noticed before

but which is popping up all over the place around me lately...

is the way that some men have of completely naturally unbuttoning their jackets as they sit down. My boss does it, a man on the train did it, and last night Jon Hamm did it on the Daily Show (it happens about 53 seconds into that clip). I don't know why but this gesture to me exudes masculinity, confidence, and some kind of old-fashioned etiquette and charm. Like tying a tie, it seems something men should have learnt from their fathers.

Anyway thinking about this reminded me of this great photo essay from Rolling Stone, and how much I love love Mad Men. How gorgeous is that photo of Elizabeth Moss and Robert Morse aka Peggy and Bert Cooper at the top??

p.s. Jon Hamm's voice makes me weak at the knees

things to do*

1. Join a gym
2. Do a nightclass
3. Get license/learn to drive
4. Go to a 'footy' game
5. Spend a day in the botanic gardens
6. Have a stoop sale
7. Join the library
8. Hair painting
9. Work through a cookbook
10. Grow my hair past my shoulders
11. Learn to play the Arrested Development theme song on the ukulele
12. High tea at the Windsor

I crossed two of these off this weekend.

*while I live in Melbourne

the gentlewoman

I know that this is very old news, but today I finally purchased The Gentlewoman.

I love it. This is the most excited I've about a magazine since the last time I found a current NW in my flat's bathroom.

It just seems calm. Fun-loving without being overly whimsical. The font is nice and everyone in it seems very clever.

Photos from Aura with An M.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night was AMAZING!

We went to Animal Collective and danced on couches!

My friend and I were hoisted on our tall friends' shoulders for the encore of My Girls! We held hands!

Our other wonderful friends got engaged during the show!

We drank bubbly after to celebrate!!

Tis was followed by: crisp sund-dried white sheets, first swim of the summer, and the harrowing experience of looking at my "sent" messages from the night before...

I have to say: driving back over the harb

our bridge after an afternoon in the sun made me realise that sometimes there is really no place like New Zealand. No clouds, blue skies, a perfect amount of summer heat, and being able to be at beach within twenty minutes, no matter where you are - its pretty incredible.

HOWEVER: TO THE PERSON WHO STOLE MY FRIEND'S CELLPHONE AND CAMERA AT THE PONSONBY CHRISTMAS TREE: WHAT A DICK. AND AT CHRISTMAS TOO, FOR SHAME. ALL THE PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF THE NIGHT IS GONE.

the best thing to brighten a rainy friday

<

Phoenix - Lizstomania / One time too many - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

Phoenix on a bus in Paris surprising their co-travellers with some sweet songs <3

the answer is always Pacey

OK so the fact is that I have been obsessed (to varying degrees over the past 9 years or so) with Pacey Whitter.

Dawson was horrifying to behold and when Pacey came on I would actually feel this huge sense of relief that I didn't have to watch Dawson, his peanut shaped head, his old-man leechery and his unebelievable, ungodly haircut.

shudder

I loved it when he took Joey to visit her Bad Father Who Is In Jail and they played Sarah McLaughlin and I loved it when he got frosted tips and I loved it when he was so supportive of Andie when she went through her bad times and I loved it when he pulled over the car and totally pashed Joey Potter (2.08) and I loved his husky voice and I basically loved it whenever he went on some apparently Hair Brained Scheme that actually wound up being meaningful to him and Dawson would never understand until Pacey spelled it out for him and made him feel bad. AND OMG I loved it when he called his boat the True Love and worked on it all year long until it was finally ready to sail away with Joey in, bought her a wall, wrote "ASK ME TO STAY ON IT", and left Dawson depressed (ha!), alone (ha!) and full of self loathing(hahahahah!!!) (3.40)

And now look at him! My heart is exploding, the capsules are bursting. I'm a heartbeat away from making the top picture my desktop. Not the second one, even though its like my DREAM.



Just a thought: It's also quite amazing the way that there is no way that I can consider Joshua Jackson as an entity separate from Pacey. He will always and forever be Pacey and if I met him (gasp!) I'd be like one of those crazed Edward Cullen fans that try to get Robert Pattinson to bite their neck.

"sad elephant! he cannot participate in the baby elephant walk while he is in a drain!"

"Foreign media have rushed to report the plight of a baby elephant which fell through a manhole and into a drainage ditch in eastern Thailand.

British tabloid The Sun said the calf suffered "a trunkful of trouble" when it fell in the hole.

The Mail online went for a more emotive introduction: "His startled expression and pleading eyes say it all..."

Image and report from here

its a worm driving an apple car

As you know, we are big fans of Maurice Sendak here at Grow Fonder (although Lou loves Where the Wild Things Are, I think my all time favourite is In the Night Kitchen)

Anyway. The other day my flatmate emailed me this whole pile of illustrations by Richard Scarry. Do you remember him?


His work wasn't quite as intriguing as Sendaks,perhaps, but the art he created is striking and immediately loveable. There's a whole lot of action and detail, little elements of surrealism and lots of happy and helpful animals who drive cars made out of apples or doughnuts.

I remember being really into Richard Scarry's Busy Busy World when I was little...




http://drawn.ca/wordpress/wp-content/images/howdy.jpg, http://www.la2day.com/files/u201/04RichardScarry.jpg,https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5tXLHKKS33x9yzQuZbMIRLORCYuB3NA3LjCcDSXJTDnG_KTiemtWaOpByy4Iwh__vX_dvo1j25DMimPQ_-8e4vdKXYahv7yXDh5DZFO83AFCuzsGv0DxxiiIBRljYma08CTWm-N5oWb3/s320/tenggren.jpg,
http://www.blueanthony.com/images/more%20animation%20stuff/rscarrygold.jpg

naive idealism

Nigel: ha

i guess its rude to scoff at other people's naive idealism...

11:59 AM BUT ITS JUST TOO EASY

me: but sometimes that comes off as really cute?

Nigel: yeah. Noone should crush that

12:00 PM maybe we should all be a little more earnest?

meh

i didn't want to wake you up, but i really wanna show you something

I have never, ever, so eagerly anticipated the release of a film as I am at the moment. Where the Wild Things are is going to be my favourite movie, whether I like it or not, I've already decided.

I can't imagine any way I won't like it though. It's a recipe for Lou's favorite movie success; 1 part favorite childhood author, 1 part excellent director, a dash of sweet Karen O music (I actually get bursting capsules, real ones Han, every time I hear the Arcade Fire, just because of these trailers), and mix it all in with what looks like some incredible production design and art direction, a cute actor kid, and beautiful cinematography. Oh, and did I mention Dave Eggers co-wrote the script? Sold.

So then there's the whole book to movie debate. Any worries about the film doing the original story justice should hopefully be quelled by listening to what Maurice Sendak has to say in this little featurette, and by reading the incredible We Love You So.

"[The blog was] established to help shed some light on many of the small influences that have converged to make this massive project a reality."

The result is a treasure trove of links and articles about music, art, skateboarding, film making, and Maurice Sendak, which you'll need a day or so to catch up on if you're not already following.

“You know I really love this movie and I hope people like it, because if not they can all go straight to hell.” Maurice Sendak

homecoming

I'm going back to NZ, this time tomorrow I'll be with my two best girlfriends..... I can't think of anything to write but I am very happy.

Oh and Han and I have a little surprise/project to start when I'm back, we'll keep you posted!

x

geranium kisser

You know those times when you get stuck on one song?
It fits your mood exactly, when it ends you bite your lip then play it again?

Found one. Its called "Two Doves". Its by the Dirty Projectors. Off the Bitte Orca album which I am currently obsessing over. It makes me feel all romantic and like smoking ciggarettes alone on my deck. Which I do.

I really just want to play it to all my friends (especially Lou, cos I KNOW you'd love it, babe).

The whole album is fantastic.

I work for an Opera company, which means I'm learning lots and lots about Opera all the time and discovering what I like and what I don't.

I totally understand that people our age are a bit terrified of it but the more I learn about it, the more I like it. Also, through seeing performances up close (up really, really close) I've gained so much respect for the singers and composers.

So I especially like this aria. Its from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss and it is sublime.

Here's a version of it from 1960. Just wait til those harmonies kick in!

a cup of tea

solves everything, right?

If you disagree you may as well stop reading because this is probably going to turn into some pretty unabashed tea loving rant. Seriously, I adore tea. Earl Grey is my long time favorite though Han and I used to branch out and drink a pot of Lady Grey (with a little spoon of honey in it) every now and then. One particularly dreary Auckland winter my housemate and I made it through a box of 50 Earl Grey teabags in 3 weeks.

When I was very young, my class went on a field trip to the Celestial Seasonings factory in Colorado, it smelled amazing and they gave us all a sampler box to take home; it remains to this day the most memorable school trip I've been on (second only possibly to 'drama camp' in 7th form on the Kapiti Coast, a truly hormonal excursion punctuated with late night truth or dare revelations, friends being banished back to Wellington still embarassingly drunk, a play about depression and lots and lots of gumboot tea). Celestial Seasonings is by far the best producer of herbal teas I have ever come across - they actually taste of something, not just a pretty smell - and (yay) I have started to see a small selection theirs stocked in Woolworths on Smith Street.

T2 is a tea-lover's mecca here in Melbourne, I have spent a lot of time in the Brunswick store, sniffing and tasting and umming and ah-ing, trying to decide which tea, or two, to take home with me. They aren't cheap and unfortunately none of the pre-packaged combinations really thrill me, so I have resorted to buying individual boxes, slowly, and building a bit of a collection. My recommendations include, for other Earl Grey fiends, the French Earl Grey, the same fragrant blck tea with a dreamy hint of rose and vanilla. I also love their breakfast range, a cute twist on English and Irish Breakfast teas, T2 produce Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and New Zealand breakfasts. MelbourneBreakfast is described as 'a deep warm tea with a hint of sweetness, just like Melbourne', charming.

In NZ I collected vintage tea sets, the prettier of these are in storage still and will eventually make it to Melbourne I hope. I am very much looking forward to tea and girlfriends on the impending trip home. Sigh.

Do you have a favorite tea? Or routines and ceremonies that go with your tea or coffee drinking?

Pictures via: Daydream Lily, Oh Joy, Lolita

let the light shine in

It's been foggy, misty and grey in Melbourne all day, but the sun just came out, perfect.

Photos via: Jan Durina, ms muse, lolita

green fingers

I have quite a comfortable obsession with flowers, I love buying them, recieving them, and now growing them. I've always loved gardening, the whole idea of creating and nurturing something. We have a vegetable garden at home, and a lot of fruit trees (I am a very lucky girl), and I have just recently planted my very first bulbs.I've never planted bulbs before and I must say it's been a few weeks and nothing seems to have happened above ground, although when birds got in recently and dug around a bit, I was rescuing my hyacinths and noticed some tiny green shoots which got me all giddy. I've covered them up now but will keep you updated as they progress.

In the meantime here are a bunch of lovely nature and flower pictures. For those of you in Melbourne wanting to buy flowers, Flowers Vasette on Brunswick Street comes very highly recommended, it smells amazing in there and the french man who might make up your bouquet is the perfect french florist man amount of flirty but not creepy. There's also a place on Gertrude Street I've never been to but which has fantastic window displays whenever I walk past [*update* I have been in there and they are so nice! It's called Mr Lincoln and you should definitely go there if you want flowers and are in the area]. For plant and pot buying (the ceramic variety) go to Fitzroy Nursery, also on Brunswick Street, they're having a huge sale at the moment and are really smart and helpful. If you're in Auckland there's a sweet little garden shop on Ponsonby right near Nosh, and Bana Brothers' Greengrocers (also ponsonby road) have great flowers, but otherwise I don't know too much...

most photos via oh joy