In the mean time, here’s a recap on life over the last couple of weeks.
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| Over the course of my move, I got to know the friendly staff at my local Kennard’s really, really well…. |
I’ve emptied and returned all my packing cartons. Kennard’s have a handy deal where you get cash back on any of carton of theirs that you return to them. It’s a full refund for any unused cartons and a dollar or so for those you have used. For me, it’s not so much getting the money back but more a case of being able to deposit that mountain of cardboard in a place where it will be properly recycled. Things are already pretty cosy in my council recycling bin as it is.
With all the boxes cleared away, the fun part of moving in has begun. The fireplace is groaning under my collection of special things and plans are afoot to Ikea the wall opposite.
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| Vibrant art work on permanent display poolside at the lap pool. |
The weather over the long weekend was perfect for hitting my new local pool.
The Cook+Phillip Aquatic and Fitness Centre sits in the shadow of St Mary’s Cathedral (and under the watchful gaze of the Westfield Tower) in the city.
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| St Mary’s Cathedral |
One thing I have really enjoyed about this move has been the need to play tourist again in Sydney.
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| The Coke sign, King’s Cross. |
I’ve found myself a whole new set of landmarks to help me navigate the streets and suburbs surrounding the new ‘hood. I haven’t gotten myself lost as often with this time round. It must help that I’ve got both good GPS in the car and some pretty spectacular visual sign posts to help me along the way.
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| Rushcutter’s Bay. |
It’s true what I’ve paraphrased, all roads do lead to Aldi. Even the one that takes you past Rushcutter’s.
My trusty slow cooker’s been playing up a bit lately and the bowl’s badly scratched. Couple that with the brief cool change in the weather we’ve had this week and it went without saying that I had to get this 3 in 1 slow cooker ($79.99) from Aldi on Wednesday.
While it doesn’t have a timer or a browning function, it does have a handy set of three different sized bowls that can be used with the one base heating unit. There is a single, universal glass lid. It’s also really easy to use. Simply dial up your required heat setting then press the button corresponding to the size of bowl you’re using and you’re good to go.
The round cooking bowls are ceramic and an easier shape to wash than the oval versions. The whole unit is also compact, light and looks the business on the kitchen bench.
I’ve been chewing through the data pack on my phone with photo heavy emails to locksmiths, electricians and gardeners. Pictures being worth a thousand words and all.
It’s still early days yet, but I’ve already made friends with some of the ‘hood’s most loved locals.
I had breakfast with this gorgeous man at Little Jean on the weekend.
In other food news, coffee from Balmain’s The Little Marionette can be found on Bay Street at the Allegro Bar (a lovely place to sit and watch the world go by if you need a break from Cosmpolitan Shoes or Mecca Cosmetica).
With all this change in practically every aspect of my everyday life, it’s been soothing to have some constancy in my world. I’m still loving Nuxe’s Huile Prodigiuese – my new bottle of it from Priceline says it for me too.
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| www.the-littlefirecracker.com |
For my umpteenth bottle of Shu Uemura cleansing oil, I broke my routine repurchasing of the green ‘Anti Oxi’ oil for a bottle of ultime8 instead. It contains eight essential oils combined to give it (and hopefully my skin) the texture of cashmere and I also swear that it removes my makeup even more effortlessly than plain old non cashmere Anti Oxi. Texture wise ultime8 is a lighter oil than Anti Oxi. It also has a light, somewhat floral scent.
Ultime8 is $125 for the big 450ml pump bottle from David Jones which incidentally is now cheaper than Strawberrynet. I wonder when that happened…
And I reckon that brings the blog up to date with my life.
Have a lovely weekend.