Things I've been digging

Everybody loves good stuff right? I know I do! So here's some things I've been enjoying lately in the style K likes to do it.

Watching 
Fresh Meat. Last night LB and I finished watching Fresh Meat. It's a British show on Netflix that ran for fours seasons, finished last year and is highly enjoyable. It's got everything you'd want from a British sitcom. Dorky humour. Infantile humour. The two cornerstones of British comedy! It's about these uni students living in a share house in Manchester and each is both awful and loveable. And every episode I would laugh at loud, usually on more than one occasion. Out loud! That is something that doesn't happen everyday. Ha. I mean I laugh out loud every day. Probably hundreds of times but not at the TV. That is something special.

Listening to
Missing Richard Simmons. The other day I started listening to this new podcast mainly because it was at the top of the podcast charts, but also because it seems quite interesting. Did you know that in 2014 exercise entrepeneur Richard Simmons suddenly stopped teaching his exercise class, stopped all public appearances and stopped speaking to his friends. No me neither. I just thought his schtick was too 80s-90s and no one cared about him any more. But apparently he just dropped out of life and this podcast is trying to find out why. I don't know how far they'll get but the first two episodes were very enjoyable and I'm regretting not being 6 months behind like I usually am which allows me to binge listen/watch things. This way I need to wait for weekly instalments. Ugh. It is like living in the 90s.

Doing
Being at the pool. Yesterday I went their twice. Once in the morning with Pickle and Baby Pickle and then in the evening with my boyfriend and my babies and a picnic basket packed with a ploughman's lunch for dinner. Yeah boyyyyeeeeee! I know how to live! Summertime!!!! WOOOOOOOO!

A vision for the (immediate) future

After my reveal on Monday that I had determined my look for summer K texted me to ask what my summer look would be. I had one word for her: jumpsuits!

I should probably have given her a few more words because if you think about it, jumpsuits isn't really a look for a whole season. Especially for a girl that only owns four jumpsuits and can only breastfeed in two of them. I'm committed to the look and currently have an expensive boob-accessible jumpsuit on layby but it's not really feasible to keep buying expensive jumpsuits. Or own them in summer if I keep laybying them. And yet I can't shake the feeling that this summer is meant to be all about the jumpsuit.  It's possibly a reaction to my recent pregnancy rendering me unable to wear jumpsuits for many months or to the fact that I don't fit into most of my jeans. Whatever the reason, I'm embracing jumpys. 

The thing about jumpsuits is that you have to embrace them, otherwise it's too easy to think they're too full on for day-to-day wear but forget that! There's nothing too full on for daily wear and certainly when you keep dropping hunjies on jumpeys you don't want them to go to waste in your wardrobe. But this leaves me in a position where I have to figure out how to supplement my jumpsuits on nonjumpsuit days. 

Oh sure I could just wear any old thing: shorts and a t-shirt; skirts and singlet; a dress. And we all know that in reality that's probably what will happen but that doesn't help me when I'm trying to construct a theory of my summer look. 

Reading over past blog posts about summer looks I feel like I had some solid summer directions: colour palletes, adjectives. I'm beginning to wonder if "jumpsuits!" isn't quite enough to define my key look for summer so I guess I should be grateful for this miserable weather buying me time to elaborate on my sartorial direction. You haven't heard the last of this friends!

March to the end of the year

Yesterdays shit hot weather made me think about last summer.
This time last year, Appleheart,  KB and I were on a plane on the way to London, where we remained (more or less) until February 2016. KB was four months old and we were all pretty raw from the experience of either having looked after a baby for four months or having been a baby for four months.
We were excited and daunted AF (as the kids like to say these days). I love London, and was pretty delighted to be going there. But being away from home with a new baby was going to be tough. And it was going to be cold. Cold AF (as the kids like to say). We were going to miss most of summer and though I was happy to be going away I was not happy to be missing summer. With the benefit of hindsight I can say boy was I right, missing summer is a bunch of bullshit. We made the most of the cold and had some truly excellent cold weather days. Several times taking long walks through London and then stopping off at cosy pubs to drink mulled wine and/or Guinness spring to mind. London is so good at cosy pubs. Walking along the coast in Lands End, in Cornwall, in very wild weather which looked a lot like the pace Dumbledore went to find a horcrux and shit got real for him. There were also the walks through snow in the Swedish countryside and the time it snowed overnight in Copenhagen then the sun came out and we went for a jog around the cemetery. I remember that because it was the only jog I did in three months and I nearly puked all over the fresh white snow.
Look, it was pretty fantastic, really.
And now I'm in a tight spot because the point of this post was to highlight that the lead up to the end of the year is always so mental, and last year I missed that, and so ended 2015 in a state of relative calm, which was the silver lining to missing out on summer.
But maybe I've just discovered that missing summer doesn't even need a silver lining. I missed something great but I had something great. It was just great.
Wow.

Sunshine revisited

You didn't have to be in NSW last week to enjoy some sunshine. Although today's forecast of 38 is beyond what I like in a summer day, last Thursday's 32 was just about perfect. I'm not saying I like day after day of 32s but a few now and again suits me just fine.

Last Thursday evening on that hot day I took the kids to the pool. As we were walking out the front door my next door neighbour was walking out her from door with her 2.5-year-old on their way to the pool too, she met her partner there and half an hour later LB showed up with another neighbour's 3-year-old son and as the sun lowered in the sky hitting everything with that yellow summer's evening light I felt like I was in a god damn Tim Winton novel. In the best possible way. I mean, is this Australia or what!? The neighbours all at the pool, sharing responsibility of watching the children as they frolic in the water cooling themselves in the golden light of summer. It was so idyllic, I could barely believe it. My neighbours later had Jimmy Grants delivered by Uber Eats to the pool, and although I can't imagine that happening in a Tim Winton novel it really did add to the feeling that life can be pretty sweet.

I know I complained a lot last week, about my pregnancy weight and politics but the truth is I'm mainly a glass-half-full kinda gal. I may whinge about a lot of things. I may draw conclusions about people I don't know, I may complain about people I do know. I may lament not having a good wardrobe or money or a satisfying job. And I'm sorry, because all in all life is pretty good most of the time. I know that the light of the lowering sun is pretty special and can not be replicated any old time and I know that not everyone gets to live in an awesome street with neighbours who become friends and have similarly aged children, but hell guys, a sweet evening at Fitzroy pool really makes you see the good in life. As long as these 38 degree days don't keep up I've got some pretty good feelings about this summer.

I've even planned my summer look, despite Pickle being too distracted to even ask about where my summer look is headed. But more about that some other time.

The to-do list (PM)

When I was a teenager I worked at an ice-cream shop in Elsternwick. Actually I worked there into my very early twenties. You can bet that summertime was crazy time at an ice-cream shop. Often when I think of summer, I think of this one Saturday in early summer when I worked the morning shift which finished at around 1PM. Something you may not realise about an ice-cream shop is that in summer it gets effing hot in there, the heat and movement and exhaust of all the freezers. So this one Saturday was really busy, serving scoops, writing on ice-cream cakes, stocking the freezers. By the end of the shift I was really hot and sticky and after work I drove straight to Brighton beach and went swimming in my underwear and probably a t-shirt and then I went home. It was the first beach swim of that summer and I just remember it feeling like truly the best thing, the only way, really, to welcome summer. But that was a different time, without babies and with a beach only 5 minutes away.

We can’t all be so lucky all the time. Still, I guess goingto Europe for a couple of months is pretty good. The summeriest thing I’ll probably get up to this week will be a trip to Fitzy pool. If I’m lucky.

K, you should definitely eat those icy poles on the hot days. Maybe even a Slurpee. Also, I suggest wearing some ultimate summer outfits during the week. The benefit of missing out on summer is that you can wear your reallyt great summer kits all week and then not get a) tired of them by the end of summer; or b) disappointed in yourself for not staying true to your summer fashion vision when after 3 months of hot-ass heat all your dressing is about just getting by and not dressing well. 

By god, this could be a week of perfect summer outfits, and therefore a summer of perfect outfits. Mate, don't mess it up!

Thinking about summer (the next day!!)

View from the rooftop. No kidding.

 Shit you guys! I am so caught up in northern hemisphere summer that I totally forgot to update MSC until just now...Friday morning Melbourne time! I'm so sorry! Part of the problem is that last night, I went to Momofuku for dinner and was so full when I came home, I lay down for a little rest and digest and didn't wake up until 8am this morning. Then I rushed out the door because we were going to the 9/11 memorial museum, and spent the whole day there feeling a lot of feelings. Then when we got home we spent a little time on the rooftop of this apartment where we are staying,  took Fritzel the dog for a walk and it wasn't until I returned from that walk and sat down at my computer that I remembered  MSC! That's basically right now.

Fritzel

 But now that I am here I can advise that summer is great because the air is warm and the sun is shiny. And I've been on a couple of ferries, which is kind of the same as a yacht, so that's pretty great. In that respect, summer is as great as you imagine, Matey. But there's something you're forgetting, and that's how to strike the balance between being sunsmart and stylish. That shit is hard. I feel like all my sunsmart options make me look like a woman who shops at country road and works in a homewares store. That's not cool. Literally! Ha.

On the plus side, most of my time in New Orleans was spent wearing these two dresses made of jersey that I bought at H&M for $10 each. They are hella comfortable and were super cheap and are semi-stylish. Also, if you wanted access to a breast, you could get one very very easily. Win!
Not very sun smart though. So you know, dressing in summer is not all beer and skittles. But there are lots of beer and skittles in summer, so it kind of balances out.

This beer was actually consumed in New Orleans, by the old Mississippi. Still, you get the idea.

Happy medium (PM)

I’ve gotta be honest with you, I was out of town from Friday night until this morning so I only know about this heatwave theoretically. At least it wasn’t 4 days above 40, right? Am I right. Still, almost 30 degrees before sun up, that is some crazy kind of bullshit right there. And, theoretically I feel your pain, Mate, and Melbourne more broadly. Plus I’ve seen the forecast for the next week and I’m not happy about it. I mean, I can’t keep skipping town every time I don’t like the weather.

I’m a big fan of happy mediums. Not all the time, I kind of like extremes too. But in weather I totally dig on the happy medium.

But mate, think about this: in two short months you will be the hell out of here, sure so will the superheat no doubt (please Nature). But we’ll all be hurtling headlong into winter and you will be heading to sweet summer. Oh sure, according to one website, “Summer is a great time to visit Cardiff as it is at its sunniest and hottest. June to August sees an average temperature of 15ºC.”! Oh, that sounds just about the same as a Melbourne winter, but you cannot deny it also sounds like a happy medium.

WAIT! That is the average temperature, but the average maximum temperature is more like 20ºC. And that really does sound like a happy medium. Oh, sure, it sounds like a bullshit summer, but a pretty good way to spend a winter, ay. Just look forward everyone and we’ll all get a good night’s sleep soon.

Summer Whites (PM)

Other great white things of summertime:

Sour cream, that goes so nice in my burritos. Obviously burritos are a year-round food but all Mexican seems better in the summertime, and that's a fact.

Lemon flavoured Calippo. The only Calippo for me. These other flavours they have now, I don't care for them. Though Appleheart and I did have a cola Calippo in Berlin earlier this year and I can't say that was a problem for me. But that's not the point, the point is lemon Calippo is white and tart and sweet and delicious. Just like its icy cousins the lemonade icypole and lemon gelato. White summertime ice treats! 

Sheets that dry in the sun in half an hour. I dislike bed linen that is not white but my natural born grubbiness makes it hard to justify. Not in summer! Napisan plus and the sun makes it all ok. 

I also very much like buffalo mozzarella and these nice white flowers. 

Summer whites (AM)

White clothes in winter can be really nice. Though me, I tend to opt for cream in that cold season. But when summer comes around I want white, white, white. It's so fresh and cooling you know. And if you can pair it with grey, even better. Mmmmmm cold.

It is why, despite a long-running, one-sided feud with Gorman I had to be the bigger man and buy these shoes for summer.

In fact they are super light grey, practically white, basically mixing my two favourite summer colours into one single colour. Well played,  Gorman, you may have won this round...

It is also why I have been wanting a white Swatch for ages.

I finally bought one when we were in America and then lost it shortly after returning home. But this weekend, while crawling under the bed Baby saw something stuck between the mattress and the slats he liked the look of*, and hey presto, I got my watch back just in time to fit into all my fantasy summer outfits. Yeah boyyeeee.

Also, this love of white is, I guess, why I can't stop thinking about buying these.

And, if I'm to be honest, by the end of the week they will probably be mine.

What I really want is to dress in white and light grey all the time when it's hot, but the sweat and chilli oil of summer means sometimes I gotsta dress more practical like, you know. That's why ya gotta accesorise. Aight?! White!

*Swatches tick really, really loudly, I guess I stuffed the watch under the mattress in a sleepy stupor.

Acrostic Monday (PM)

Please don't make me work

On hot summer days

Oh, how I long for

Lounging at the pool

Acrostic Monday (AM)

Instantly you arrived 

The very day you were meant to,

Summertime. 

How come spring didn't do that?

Expected us to be so grateful for the scraps it threw our way. 

Respecting us so little along the way. 

Eff Spring. Long live the summertime!

The sweet scent of summer (PM)

I basically loved everything about yesterday because not only was it warm and sunny, but there was no wind. It's the wind that really cheeses me off.  I have actual feelings of hatred towards it. 

But yesterday wind was all "where's the party?" and the sun was all "party? what party? I'm just going to stay home and wash my hair today" and that's exactly what happened. 

It was so warm and lovely yesterday that I walked home from yoga still wearing my yoga gear and at times, the black blazer I wear to work so I didn't look so naked. It looked stupid, sure, but was I loving being out in the warm summery evening?

You bet I was. 

The sweet scent of summer (AM)

Like most people I've been pretty damn cheesed off about this pathetic excuse for a spring. Maybe it's because all the rain has made life with this bullshit haircut more unbearable than I knew was possible. Maybe it's because I can't fit into my jeans and so have nothing to wear when the it is cold and wet. Maybe it's because it's been cold for the last 8 months and the reviving trip to North American summer only had reviving powers to last 6 to 8 weeks.Whatever it is I'm...cheesed off. I'm not saying this spring has been total bullshit. There have been nice days all over the place, I'll admit it. But there have also been so many bullshit cold wet days it's easy to forget the winners. And yesterday, yesterday was really the first taste of summer. Am I right?

 Like first in the morning I had to drive across town and it was hot and uncomfortable and I didn't like it much. But later in the day when I was at the pool I was pretty much loving the shit out of it.

After my swim (relax in the kids pool) I ran into a friend in the change room. She'd just arrived and complained about the heat "It's really hot. You know how you want it but then when it gets here you realise you are not prepared?" she said. I did know what she meant but after two hours in the pool I was pretty removed from that feeling. It wasn't long though until, waiting among a bunch of cu...people to be served some delicious ice cream at Messina I was hot and annoyed and I knew exactly what she meant. Hot hot heat can suck.

Tell that to the me that ate my dinner by the beach though as the sun set and boats sailed in.

Or the me that ate stone fruit salad for dessert.

The me that struggled to get comfortable for sleep due to heat would believe you though.

Summer, it makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you fall in love all over again.

California Love (AM)

So, I hate to break this to you, but as you read this, probably on a cold winter’s morning, I’m enjoying my first hot LA night. I hope you can just be happy for me and are not feeling bad. Especially given what I am going to tell you next. Look, I hate to ruin the magic of the internet here, but I did not write these words today. No, sometimes... sometimes a blog post is written in advance. I’m sorry. Feel free to take a minute.

You may be at work, or somewhere else. It may be cold. Might be raining. Who knows. And given this is pre-written I don’t really know what it’s like where I am either. What I do know is that the forecast for LA was 80  with a low of 64. Whatever the hell that means! Just jokes, I have checked and it means that it will have a high of 26 and a low of 18! Um, that sounds pretty good to me. It’s likely that I will be one of three things, I reckon. 1) Passed out, jet-lagged; 2) eating a burrito  and drinking beer with CENSORED and Mondonna while CENSORED sleeps; or 3) drinking beer and eating a burrito with CENSORED dazzled with Mondonna’s hot LA lifestyle while she is off somewhere doing something hot, as Ari cries with delirium after hours on a plane and a hemisphere shift demanding miracles from his body clock that he cannot even begin to understand. Fingers crossed it’s option 2.

I was feeling a bit uneasy about this trip for a while, but then I organised accommodation and got a little excited. And then one week ago, I heard a plane overhead. It was loud and I looked up and it was flying quite low. The sky was full of clouds and I looked away for a minute, looked back up and the plane was gone. I could still hear it. It was still there, and then it emerged from the clouds, making them look wispy around it and I could imagine descent vividly. You know, when you are coming in to land and you can feel the plane descending, you fly through clouds, then clear sky then clouds again. You can see the city below. It’s so exciting. So I started to get excited. Oh and remember Saturday? How it was so wet and cold. Yeah, I got real excited. But I don't you guys to miss pout on the California love. C'mon, let's all enjoy it!

Real cool and not too costly (PM)

Hey! Miguel told me a great story about Frosty Fruits the other day. It went like this: I ate this delicious thing the other day. Frosty Fruit have put out this new lemon, lime and bitters flavour. That’s what I ate.

Hang on, I guess that story wasn’t that great. But it did make me want to eat a lemon, lime and bitters Frosty Fruit, even though I think original is probably the best. The watermelon and pineapple one sounded promising but it is not as good as the OG. That ad for FF also made me want to eat a Frosty Fruit. They really just do not make ‘em like they used to.

Mostly though, I just want the heat to break. This morning while I was getting my  coffee everyone in the shop was so heat-spaced that I think I somehow caught their spaced outedness. I think that because as soon as I walked out with my coffee I fell off the kerb and stepped on my own toe really painfully. Who knew that was even possible.