The sun was out and spring was definitely in the air.

Cozy tree trunks on South Dowling Street, Paddington.  I love the slightly hipster, slightly student, slightly bohemain, slightly normal person feel of the inner east.

From the flowerbeds that were beginning to reveal their blooms to the nude from winter trees with their trunks dressed in vivid knits and pom poms, our city (and this blogger) are definitely ready for the warmer weather and flu-less days of spring.  On a personal note, this winter has been nothing but back to back illnesses and I’ll be glad to see the back of it.  End of rant.

Moving right along.

An aunty’s work is never done.  I’m finally up to date with my Lost My Name book orders for the nephews.

I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of cuddling them.  Aren’t newborn cuddles priceless and beyond words?  And don’t you come away from holding them in awe of their sleep deprived mothers?   I don’t actually remember much from my newborn mum days.

But I don’t think it involved many morning tea times spent in the quiet company of a magazine and food that needed to be eaten with two hands.

Or being so unfazed about doing the morning daycare drop off that one could afford to add complexity to the task by remembering to bring along Woolworths Earn and Learn stickers for the toddler room’s collection page (and actually sticking them to the page in the toddler room).

Pannins and wraps – $8.00 – $8.50.

My mum and aunty have come to stay and with them come adventures, a good gossip and the return of two much loved partners in crime for Toddler SSG.  My mum, aunty and I recently went out for lunch at Mercato e Cucina on Victoria Road.  Aside from the restaurant, there’s a cafe and a deli from which you can choose to dine.  We started with some paninis and a wrap from the deli section, with a bonus serve of eggplant thanks to a lovely staff member at the counter.  The panini deserve a special mention for being made from the lightest textured bread ever and also for being filled with the most thoughtfully seasoned and selected meats and accompaniments I’ve eaten in the local area.  Everything was just right, there wasn’t too much or too little of anything.

Sticky date slice – $5.50.

For dessert we went for a little bit of healthy with a dense sticky date slice that was encased in a light and buttery crumb pastry that was studded with nuts and topped with nougat.

Hazelnut cake – $7.  The coffees are GOOD by the way,

And an all out decadent slice of hazelnut cake that had a glorious praline layer in between the layers of mousse, chocolate and sponge.

It wouldn’t be a drive up the road with my mum and aunty without a pit stop at Aldi.  It was a struggle, but we manage to talk ourselves out of bringing home this blue camping kettle which my mum was thinking of popping on the stove of her kitchen in Perth.  You know, just to be prepared for the next time the power goes off.  There are things you can do without in a black out and a good cup of tea isn’t one of them.

Should my mum have gotten the kettle?

Do you find whole new areas of shops when you visit them with your mum?