With heart unlocked upon the giant earth

There is much value, I believe, in starting a new year with a different a different point of view so that's what I'm doing. A Canon IXUS 1000, to be precise. 


My Saturday was lovely. It is unseasonably cool at the moment, so I I traded the summery jeans-and-lace-top look for something a little more Autumnal. 

That's the dress I bought at the Alameda Markets in San Francisco last month. It made its 21st century Sydney debut with a Gucci belt (second hand, bought at a consignment store in Sydney), vintage boots from eBay and a Mulberry Elgin bag. Here's a better look at the print, and how I look at people bringing me a plate of hot chips and a pot of red fruits tea. 

And here's how it looks from behind. And yes, there was some shopping. 

 On Saturday night we went to a lovely restaurant called  The Boatshed which his located in Glebe and occupies the what once was a stable. No, I lie. It occupies what was once a boat shed. I wore Comptoir des Cottoniers dress (bought on sale in Paris in 2009), Gap trousers (New York last year, on sale) and am carrying my phone and several dozen lipsticks in a Bottega Veneta clutch. 

 The shoes are from San Francisco. Expect to see alto more of them as the year progresses because I love them desperately. 


The food at the Boatshed is great. I ate very well and even had dessert which is not something I do frequently. Then again, no place I frequent features rice pudding with a jam doughnut on the dessert menu. 

And today a few of my brothers and sisters came to lunch. I talk as if there is a tribe of siblings because in fact there is. There was more dessert, this time a pavlova. My second-oldest sister provided this and her choice was a good one. For the non-Australians amongst us, pavlova (or pav, as we call it) is a meringue shell filled with soft meringue, cream and fruit. It can be very cloying but this was a smart pav: the fruit was fresh (not preserved and sugared), nor was the cream sweetened. It was lovely. 

 And there you have it. A bit of a nip in the air, some fine shopping, a new camera, a really nice dinner, hot chips and more dessert than recommended by health professionals. Let no one say I didn't have a great birthday.