Tidbits

A few things I've loved reading, obsessing over and doing lately.

Pilates on the beach - last week was the first session at City Beach and it was a beautiful Perth Spring day. While the instructor was telling me to find my imprint, I was subtly trying to fall asleep in the sun!

New Matilda's eye opening article after the events in Kalgoorlie last week.

I've also started this book to educate myself on the history of violence against Aboriginals in Australia. Pretty heavy, but necessary reading.

On a lighter note, I've nearly finished Drew Barrymore's book, which is an easy read filled with tales of her upbringing and career. It's oddly paced because the stories aren't in chronological order but she has lived an intriguing life!

I've finished watching Stranger Things and loved it. So many 80s references, so much suspense!

Yeah, I don't understand the obsession with Barb either.

Three words: Gilmore Girls Revival! This is the first page of the four part series, due out in November! I just wish Hanbel was in Perth to watch it with me.

Hula hooping is one of my Classpass picks and is so much fun! At first I had to use a thick, kiddy hoop but now I've moved onto a normal sized one. Look at me, being an adult with my hula hoop in one hand and responsibilities (aka bills) in the other! 

This obvious grammar rule that you've never realised you've always done. Wow, go you grammar nerd!

I cooked this easy meal last week and it was delicious.

Watch this show if you have 20 minutes spare. It's basically the FAQs that you were too afraid to ask of minorities and marginalised Australians and it's super interesting.

Finally, check out this Grease theory. It actually makes sense too! Oh, young love.

Have a fun weekend!

xx Luce

Teleisha and Cam's wedding, ten years in the making

What better way to kick off my 2016 blogging (yes, three months in, I know, I know) than to write about the beautiful wedding day of one of the kindest, most loved up couples I know. Teleish and Cam have been together for yonks and planned it well, getting hitched on their ten year anniversary a couple of weekends ago. I was lucky enough to be privy to all the ins and outs, being in the crazy bridal party, and I felt so honoured to see the whole day unfold.

Teleisha was the calmest bride ever, in all the history of weddings and bridezillas, and only shat her lacy pants in the minutes leading up to seeing Cam for the first time. After that she was back to being a chill penguin, just sipping on wine and enjoying the breathtakingly beautiful day.

Their wedding was held at House of Cards winery in Yallingup and it was the ideal setting for a laid back, rustic style wedding...with great wine. After an emotional ceremony, the night was a blur of delicious food eaten under the stars, hilarious speeches, too many rosé slushies, a flurry of dance moves and so much love. In other words, pretty damn perfect.

Here are a few pics we managed to take and also a couple of stunning professional shots that have emerged since, taken by the ever talented Bianca Kate (special mention to Rae, who was assisting Bianca and who I bonded with over our mutual 'Sweaty Betty' statuses).

The supermodels, Cam and Teleisha, via Bianca Kate

Friday Fancies #2

I was sick last weekend so I spent the majority of my time in between naps watching TV, reading blog posts and feeling sorry for myself. Here's a few things that took my fancy and kept me going. 

Before the flu struck me down, we went to The Standard for dinner. You should definitely try the pork croquettes, chicken grill and lamb belly for some seriously scrumptious food. The sweet and sour eggplant was probably the favourite though. 

The Hummus Club, Perth: Interview

So you were asking about the most delicious falafels going around? Oh, yes I do know where you can find them - The Hummus Club!

I'm baaaack!

Hi, my name is Lucy and it has been a month since my last post...

Yes, I have been on hiatus - and I use that word lightly because obviously I've just been a slack blogger/couldn't work out how to use my phone to post/had no wifi at home STILL/was out of range. But hey, I've been having a great time on my break so don't hate me please (Brooke, Mazz, Anh!) because I am back for another year of more disciplined blogging, I promise.

Here are my top five highlights from the break.

The Pear'fect Pantry, Wembley

Living in this new area, I’ve been keen to find the local haunts and after a little digging, I discovered that The Pear'fect Pantry was in fact a cafe, and according to Urbanspoon, a popular one at that. So, I decided to go for a stroll and meet Caitlin, Ebony, Amy and her gorgeous kidlets for a midweek brunch.

TPFF WA Designer Installation: Fashun, Freebies and Subtle Stalking

Anyone who knows Mazz and I know that we're pretty simply gals. What we lack in fashion/beauty/general life skills, we make up for in enthusiasm and we are easily impressed by people more skilled than us. Keeping that in mind, when I scored some VIP tickets to the WA Designer Installation at the Telstra Perth Fashion Festival last night, she was obviously the perfect date. 

My cute, blurry date

Ballin' for PMH

Saturday night saw us rocking up to the Esplanade Hotel in Freo for the 2014 Paediatric Oncology Gold Ball.

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the ball was held in honour of the 14,500 plus children worldwide who are diagnosed with cancer every single month. All proceeds from the ball are going to the Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation for paediatric oncology research, as well as to local families who have children with cancer.

Sweet Dreams are Made of Cheese

I adore cheese. It is a wondrous thing filled with dreams and deliciousness. So when my housemate discovered a boutique cheese shop had opened up locally, a cheese and wine night was imminent. She asked me if I could pretty please go check out Little Cheese Shop in Bayswater to pick up the fromage and while it was a hard decision, I finally agreed!

Winterland Adventures

Perth has been producing the goods lately so the moment an excited Brooke told me about the Winterland Ice Skating in the City, we knew we had to check it out. After easily roping a few friends in, we rocked up to the Perth Cultural Centre, which had been transferred into a dreamy winter wonderland. Along with a teeny outdoor ice skating rink, there was a rinkside bar serving snacks and mulled wine as well as a crackling fire setting the mood on the big screen. 

After a small setback, which involved myself and a lack of socks, we were soon gliding across the the outdoor rink like the graceful ladies that we are. 

Abseiling

A few weeks ago, I conquered one of my biggest fears by slowly descending backwards off a few cliffs...and it was amazing! 

It was my first time abseiling and it isn't something I would willingly choose to do but as a Christmas present from Steve, I had no choice.

We headed up to Mountain Quarry in Boya, around 35 minutes out of Perth, and the whole way there I was pondering how the hell I was going to do it. 

I thought I'd share a few happy snaps and prove that sometimes the most fun you can have is doing something that scares the pantaloons off you. 

We started on the baby face, supposedly as a warm up. Everyone else seemed relaxed so I took that opportunity to look for the nearest escape exit that didn't involve throwing myself over a cliff. 

There was none, so over the edge I went.

We did an intermediate face next, which involved some free falling because of an overhang.

 The real mission though was the huge 55 metre cliff that I had vowed not to go near as we first entered the quarry.

Of course, Steve was cool and calm and disappeared over the edge with ease. 

Meanwhile, I was making the instructor double and triple check my ropes and promise me that I wouldn't die. 

The whole way down I was shaking and was so thankful no one was around to hear my self affirmations interlaced with profanities.

It was exhilarating though, the most amazing feeling and once I was on the ground, I wanted to go again! 

Adventure Out is who we went through and I recommend you do too. The instructors were fun and informative, they knew their stuff and made you feel at ease immediately. 

They also kept their promise that I wouldn't die and for that I am grateful! 

xx Luce

Friday Fancies

I adore current affairs. This love has more than likely stemmed from my mandatory news quizzes at uni, where I would study tirelessly each week to add a measly 2% to my semester mark. I can confirm these quizzes were, and probably still are, the bane of any journo student's existence.

On the train and in lull moments of my day, I love nothing more than to scour the web for interesting, funny, thought provoking and sometimes peculiar articles, blog posts, videos and the like. They might not be the most intellectual or newsworthy and my old tutor might disapprove, but here's a few links from the past week that have tickled my toes and piqued my interest.

Firstly, I need to work my way through this list of books that will apparently change your life...God knows I don't have enough books in my to-read list already!

Fringe World Festival is upon us here in Perth. There are way too many amazing events and performances, from comedy to art exhibits, cabaret to theatre but I have managed to compile a personalised wishlist on the festival's website. My top picks are All the Single Lad(ie)s, comedian Khaled Khalafalla, This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things musical comedy, The Drunk Show and 5-Step Guide to Being German 2.0. Let me know if there are any other spectacular shows that aren't on my list, I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Special mention to my housemate, Lauren, who will be belting her lungs out as a soprano in The Menagerie indie choir's performance, This Song is Mine. Unfortunately it's already sold out but I ordered my tickets early and cannot wait!

Moving on from Fringe, The Guy's Guide to Seeing Women, Not Objects is an interesting read and something that I think both genders need to take on board, not just men.

Macklemore, Ryan Lewis and Mary Lambert were joined on stage by Madonna to perform Same Love at The 56th Grammy Awards. Throw Queen Latifah into the mix as a celebrant and three dozen newlyweds to create a real wow moment. It is such a moving performance. Of course, the backlash soon followed, as expected. 


Also at the Grammys: Imagine Dragons teamed up with Kendrick Lamar with a freaking hectic remix of Radioactive.

Last but definitely not least, how amazing do these whiskey sours sound from the sisters at a Beautiful Mess? Cocktails needed, pronto! Yum.

Well there you go, I hope you've found some inspiration for your weekend!

xx Luce

A little vacay

The past few weeks have been extremely hectic, trying to finish my uni degree and all, that my blog has been slightly neglected - sorry to all my avid readers (Mazz and Brooke)!

Amidst all this craziness though, I did manage to duck down south for a couple of days as a belated birthday present from Steve, since he was away for my actual birthday. We stayed at Abbey Beach Resort in Busselton and spent a couple of days relaxing before he had to go offshore again and I returned to the study grind. 

It was completely beautiful and made me remember all the great times I had going away with my family when I was younger. We would go away for weeks at a time and spend most of it fishing, swimming and basking in the summer sun before heading back to school. Ah, the good old days! 

It was ridiculously chilly when we arrived in Busselton and seemed to get colder the longer we were there.

We made a beeline for Busselton jetty straight away in search of a delicious lunch venue. The place was completely deserted and we decided on The Goose for nosh, which turned out to be a lot better than I expected! I ordered the most wintery meal to go with the weather outside, which ended up being beef brisket with mac and cheese. 

Hail on the beach

Scrumptious!

Custard cider

Abbey Beach Resort

Cute birthday card from Shteve! 

On the Friday, we set off on a little adventure into the deep south - and drove as far as Cowaramup before stopping at Candy Cow, a sweets institution for anyone driving within a 30km radius. This little candy shop is so amazing and I never fail to stop there whenever I venture down south. The fudge is to die for and we bought a selection, as well as some goodies for the family.

The Margaret River Chocolate Factory was the next stop and we delved into the legendary chocolate buttons that are available for sample there. Yum! 

Reclining on a cow

The Candy Man

Dingo poo for Steve's pop! 

All I need to know - cocoa equals good health! 

We went to the Colonial Brewery for lunch, which is surrounded by famous Margaret River wineries. The brewery is very cute and has a massive outdoor area, including a playground for the kids (and me). They have a variety of beers on tap and a couple of wines on offer for the beer haters. I was only a little disappointed that there weren't more ciders on offer, which is definitely my drink of choice...aside from tequila! 

After gorging ourselves on taste testers at the chocolate factory and providore, the decision was made to go for a lighter lunch - chicken pizza and a tomato, bocconcini and basil salad to share.

Both dishes ended up being amazing choices and were super tasty. I got a little creative and ended up piling the salad on top the pizza to create a little double dutch deliciousness. Groundbreaking!

Colonial Brewery, Margaret River

My creation - amazing! 

Gorgeous little veggie garden at the brewery

Freezing tootsies in the sand

After returning to Busselton, we met up with my lovely, pregnant friend Alyce and her hyperactive husband Jon for some classic fish and chips and a good old laugh. I hadn't seen Alyce in almost a year so it was awesome to catch up and talk about how painful child birth was going to be (haha!) and hear about her first year of marital bliss.

Lovely Lyce

Thanks so much Steve for whisking me away for a couple of days! =D

xx Luce