Arty Baby

Today Baby Naomi & I had a fabulous morning at the MCA! It was an unexpected invitation from Cousin Bronwyn which saw us zoom into town and in a blink of an eye be transported from dirty nappies to ... well, modern art. Naomi's favourite was Sunley Smith's enormous film projection of furniture being dragged behind a car driving along a dirt road. I thought it was a bit obtuse but she did make a good point about the notion of forward motion being vital to the work, as it is to her pram.

The highlights for Bronwyn were the Yinka Shonibare exhibition (big time commentary on cultural imperialism) and getting to ride in the secret goods lift thanks to lady with baby in pram!

Janice no more ...

It is with a humbly bowed head and bruised heart that I type these words ... I have been dumped! Yes, while I was busy basking in my celebrity conquest, Janice was evidently busy shaking off the numerous Facebook remoras that had attached themselves (ourselves?) to her profile. Janice has gone underground and is no longer my friend.

As 'anonymous' commented on my last post, maybe I should spend more time thinking about my real friends ... like Shazza :)

Janice Petersen Newsflash!

We are now friends! Well, on facebook anyway. Still, it's one step closer to finding out where she gets her outfits! Stay tuned ...

Not the B-O-X!

We think our cat has Stockholm Syndrome! Every couple of days now, whenever we have a real estate inspection, poor Banister the Cat is bundled into his B-O-X and taken for a drive - a process which he find most traumatic from beginning to end. Hubby Mark also found it pretty traumatic the day Banister's claw pierced his skin like an earing!

Today however, after the morning's inspection, we had left the B-O-X out in the courtyard. When Hubby Mark picked it up to put it away he was shocked to find a 7kg furry paperweight inside. Yes, Banister had curled up in his torture chamber for a nap!

Beach Pad Anyone?

Our apartment is on the market! After 7 years in Bondi we have decided its time to move, for a number of reasons. Although our apartment is great, a third bedroom would be very useful (study, guestroom etc). And as much as I hate to admit it, its just not as fun around here listening to parties lying in bed hoping Baby Naomi doesn't wake up rather than being out amongst it. The beach is just a tease (I still haven't really figured out how to go swimming with Bub yet) and although the local drunks are very nice and stop the traffic for me & the pram some days, other days they hurl abuse or just pass out in my path so its a little erratic!

Anyway, selling is exciting but quite hard work as it means lots of cleaning and dashing out of the house with Bub and Cat whenever our agent calls with a new prospect.

Yesterday a guy came for a second look with his parents from Bowral, so lets hope mummy & daddy cough up!

Janice Petersen Newsflash

Janice is on Facebook! I have requested her friendship (with a message assuring her I am not a stalker) but am yet to hear back. Stay tuned ...

We Dont 'Do' Coffee

Last night I met my gorgeous friend Carolyn (aka Fuzz) for a rare dinner date, while Hubby Mark stayed home with Baby Naomi.
Naomi was not asleep when I left so I was immediately less than relaxed. And I had a little bit of guilt hanging overhead ... not about leaving daddy + bub ... but because the restaurant I had booked was a new uber-cool venture now thriving in the same space where a friend's restaurant had failed.
But all my tension evaporated when I stepped through the old wooden doors of The Rum Diaries! The place has been completely transformed and feels like an eccentric Havana supper club. The decor, Carolyn's stories and a fantastic Mojito immediately relaxed me and we had a fantastic evening. Delicious food too (tapas fusion)!
Looking around, it was certainly a bit of a Bondi beautiful people scene, but the staff were so friendly and unpretentious that I realised .... this place was actually cool, not just trying to be cool!
So, even when at the end of the night upon ordering coffee, we were told 'Sorry, we don't do coffee' - I was not put out. Instead I thought - yes, that's cool. It makes perfect sense ... of course they don't. Cheese plate and another cocktail anyone?

http://www.therumdiaries.com.au/

Lunch at Bodhi

Its summertime in Sydney-town and to help ease Hubby Mark back into work mode, Baby Naomi & I visited the office & then had lunch at Bodhi, a vegetarian yum cha restaurant in Cook+Phillip Park. It was lovely sitting under the huge canopy of Moreton Bay figs (close enough to bodhi trees!) with the breeze coming up from the harbour. We didn't try the vegetarian fish, but the BBQ non-pork buns were pretty close to the real thing!

Who is Janice Petersen?

Last night, while watching our Tivo recorded SBS World News ('News from home, if you live in the world' - ??!!) the usually super elegant Janice Peterson didn't realise the camera was still on her and did a quick straighten up of her hair. It wasn't much, but this slight glimpse of Janice thinking she was off air made me wonder about her.... and where she gets such great clothes!
It seems Janice is a hard woman to research ... so far all I have found is that she is (surprisingly) from Woy Woy on the NSW Central Coast and she loves sport and photography. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janice_Peterson)
I will have to continue my research re Janice's fashions ... Stay tuned for the next Janice bulletin.

New Mum Angst

Feeling a bit angst-ridden today. I have been doing the mum thing for over 7 months now but things change every day so I still feel like such a novice. Today Baby Naomi gagged on gristle I had failed to notice in a lovely pureed lamb stew I had made. Hubby Mark has admitted to being terrified of choking so between us, the scene was quite dramatic! We also visited his 90+ y.o. Booba who had the following golden oldie pearls of wisdom for me (everyone's an expert on babies it seems!):
- what's happened to all her hair (while licking her fingers and pawing Naomi's head)
- she is looking around because she has never been here before (not true!!)
- its a pity she can't hold a biscuit (why?)
- is she having orange juice (again .. why?)
- her teeth are coming (pretty safe bet)
- is she saying any words (she is 7 months old!!)
- don't let her stand up too much she will get bow legs (great - another thing to worry about).
I have a clinic appointment this week with the wonderful community nurses at Bondi so I hope they are ready to hear all about it!!

New Who?!

There is a new Dr Who!

Although not a huge fan, I felt tingles of nostalgia when I saw a news story on the new Dr Who. The previous Drs (and there have been many) were flashed up on the screen and I realised that they were not only time lords ... they were time capsules!

I loved the 3rd and 4th doctors - Jon Pertwee & Tom Baker ... a snapshot of the 70's and early 80's. The 5th doctor - Peter Davison - also looked familiar but it turns out this is because he also played Tristan Farnon in the series 'All Creatures Great and Small' - also a childhood fave of mine.

As for Drs 6-9 .... no idea. Then came Dr 10 ... David Tennant ... whom I found strangely sexy while I was pregnant and confined to the couch watching random TV programmes such as ... well ... Dr Who!

So - good luck Dr 11 - Matt Smith. May the 2010 generation love you as we loved your previous incarnations!

Happy New Year!

Each year I wonder - Does the way we celebrate new year's eve reflect the year to come, or just the current moment?

In case the former is correct, I have developed my own little tradition for NYE. Each year I treat myself to a bottle of fine French champagne - a different one each year. Admittedly this very civilised dabbling only began once I hit 30. The earlier years of wild dance parties and feral bush raves had faded into a smoke machine haze and I was more than happy to spend the same amount of money that used to get us through a whole weekend on one bottle of bubbles!

So ... which champagne houses have been covered to date? Moet & Chandon was my first love and kicked off the tradition in 2006 ... and having toured the caves of Reims it will always be a favourite. 2007 began with Winston Churchill's favourite - the formidable Pol Roger. This I found a bit sharp ... probably best quaffed with cigar. 2008 was telling in that I had no bubbles and indeed spent NYE in bed at a beach side caravan park - pregnant!!

And 2009? What a night. Amazing fireworks from superb Sydney harbour vantage points, family, friends, my hubby & baby girl (who insisted on staying up!) and ... a bottle of Bollinger! Sweet like honey but balanced perfectly by the brut dryness, delicate bubbles and a wonderful not drunk but floaty sensation after a few glasses!

Whether the night's celebrations are a sign of the year to come, or just reflective of where we are today - I like 2009 already!