Esther's Table

Seeing pics of this cafe in Annandale, NSW the other day instantly reminded me of my kids cooking school in Melbourne 'Little Kitchen'. This cafe also has a pastel colour palette & vintage-feel about it. Really loving the outdoor furniture & blinds! Here's a review of it from our friends at 'Hey Bambini'.

http://www.heybambini.com.au/Cafe-Review-Sydney-next.asp?id=3

Circus Paperie

Robert Gordon design update: How adorable are these newly-released Australian party products? Great colours & graphic design. Wonder if it's acceptable to have a circus-themed birthday party for my husband's up-coming 40th? hehe.....

It's official - Christmas has come early this year!

In true addict form, I've been bugging Kate Spade employees to get this info for a while now. This morning I got an email to say "It's official - Kate Spade has landed in London!" Happy days.....

Don't mind if I do.....

I found this book online the other day & instantly thought of my time in New York a few years back during the holiday season. BEST holiday ever!

Early Xmas present?

I love how these bangles allow you to be close to your favourite city at all times, no matter where in the world you are!

How cute are these nods to Manhattan, London & Brooklyn?

Bah Humbug.....

They don't call it the silly season for nothing....how quirky & fun are these holiday coin purses & beanie?

XMAS PHOTOSHOOT

I'm busy styling some Christmas decorating tips for a magazine photoshoot later this year. Magazines work months in advance, so at the moment I'm up to my ears in Christmas decorations...not that I'm complaining of course!

Here's a sneak peak at my first attempts for this new photoshoot....

Happy Bastille Day!

Here's a gorgeous image of the Eiffel Tower around Christmas-time.
www.life.com

Chanel, I love you....

Here's a little entry to tie in with the 'design' component of this blog. I saw these very cute Chanel brooches online the other day. Just adorable!

www.chanel.com

Dasher & Dancer & Comet & Blitzen.....

I love this photo from Conde Nast Traveller magazine. Christmassy or what?

Pretty packaging

How sweet is this packaging? It's so fun & festive! The motif (featuring a string of vintage-style Christmas lights) was even translated onto dessert plates for the 2009 Kate Spade holiday range in the US a few years back.

Decorate!

I saw this cute crockery on E-Bay the other day. I'm not sure how much they sold for but aint' they grand! Such a gorgeous colour palette!

Sass & Bide

Here's a little fashion aside to tie in with the design component of this blog. I really like Australian design duo Sass & Bide's last collection of very orange & very quirky pieces. Sass & Bide's last collection is currently on sale, so now's a great time to snap up some of their offerings.

Beautiful books (part 5)

So....I'm kind of addicted to buying books. My latest acquisition is a book I've been meaning to commandeer for quite a while. It's called 'The Flavour Thesaurus' by Niki Segnit. What originally caught my eye was the colourful, cutting-edge cover design. What won me over was the subject matter of food matching. The book dissects 99 ingredients & tells you what other ingredients work well with it. Saffron & white chocolate...who knew? The clever designers behind this remarkable book are 'Grade Design Consultants' in the UK.

www.gradedesign.com

Cute cards!

While these KSNY cards are no longer available, they're still worthy of a mention here! I love the colours, typeface & cute detailing on the envelopes.

Jamie's Best Ever Christmas

It's starting to become super-cold here in the Australian countryside, so tonight I decided to cook a very apt Wintery dish. The recipe was from 'Jamie's Best Ever Christmas' TV series & turned out a treat (as Jamie's recipes always do!) Hope this series is released on DVD one day!

www.jamieoliver.com

Cakes for Christmas!

I'll be over in London in the lead-up to Christmas this year. On my holiday, I plan to visit the absolutely gorgeous 'Violet Cakes' & buy a truckload of their delectable treats to enjoy. Anyone who knows me well, knows my holidays always revolve around food. Forget monuments and landmarks, what excites me most when abroad, is paying homage to that countries culinary greatness! I'm really looking forward to my visit. Thanks to owner & pastry-chef extraordinaire Claire Ptak for the generous use of these lovely photos.

www.violetcakes.com

Melbourne spends 2.6 million on Christmas!

Today, Melbourne mayor Robert Doyle confirmed that The City of Melbourne would be upping their spend on Christmas decorations this year. Plans include "gift-wrapping" the town hall! Hopefully it'll look something like the Cartier building that I saw gift-wrapped in New York at Christmas a couple of years ago!

Santa's Naughty List

I guess Santa Claus isn't coming to town anytime soon, but I'm sure he's already busy compiling his naughty/nice list. Here are a few Christmas cards I found for sale on the 'Papier D'amour' website. They're by Kate Spade.

I love them.....

Christmas @ Easter?

My husband & I did a rather unconventional thing for our recent Easter holiday - we visited a Victorian ski field. Yes, the official snow season is a month away BUT Falls Creek did not disappoint! It's was crisp & Wintery and to that end Christmassy (in a European kind of way!)

Christmas Cookie Shop & The Royal Wedding

I posted on the awesome Eleni's NYC biscuit bakery in 2009. Here's a photo I took at their Chelsea store. (They also have a store on Madison Ave). Eleni's has just created some adorable cookies they're selling to commemorate Will & Kate's Royal Wedding. Too cute!

www.elenis.com

New York, New York

Being addicted not only to all things Christmas, but also to good food - Australian chef Shannon Bennett's latest travel guide on New York has got me excited. It covers all the best eateries the Big Apple has to offer. If his last guide book on Paris is anything to go by, he's sure to have another hit on his hands.

www.vuedemonde.com.au

Christmas Cooking Lessons

Most of Australia probably already knows about Pastry Chef extraordinaire Adriano Zumbo via his 2 Masterchef TV appearances. When I was in Sydney recently I (rather greedily) went to all 3 of his patisseries to try out some of his cakes. They were mind-blowingly good. I was stoked to read that Adriano's running a Christmas dessert lesson in Alexandria in Sydney. Cool.

Bookings - email: gourmetinstitute@acpmagazines.com.au

Very Early Christmas Present.....

It was with much excitement that I recently read supremely talented Australian stylist Sibella Court is about to release her new book 'A stylist's guide to NYC'. I snapped up her first book in a heartbeat so can't wait for this next instalment.

Sibella runs 'The Society Inc' in Paddington, Sydney - it's a treasure trove of striking wares from around the world for those of us who are obsessed with decorating & design. Really hoping my next lot of filming in Sydney co-incides with one of her workshop dates!

http://www.thesocietyinc.com.au

Christmas in London 1951

I do like this retro poster from London Transport that ran in December 1951 wishing it's patrons a happy festive season. I'm not sure whether our Australian Transport system thanks it's commuters each year, but it's a nice sentiment isn't it?

Christmas in La La Land - 2010

So.....I've had a few computer problems the past month so haven't been able to blog properly. So happy to be back online finally! I love the snowman outfit singer Katie Perry wore to the Jingle Ball concert in LA last Christmas (December 2010). So cute and quirky!