A couple of weeks ago my nan Sylvia, or "Tiny" as everyone knew her, had an accidental fall in her home, hitting the back of her head. She was taken to hospital that evening and we sat with her as doctors assessed her situation throughout the night. At this stage it didn't appear to be too serious as she was still conscious and responding well to all the Nurse's questions. However, she took a turn for the worse the following morning and was immediately taken into surgery.
In the following week, we visited her regularly while we waited for her to rouse. We sat with her, talked to her, held her hand and kept her company. Despite our hopes that she would fully recover, Nan never woke up. She passed away almost a week later, on Friday June 4 surrounded by close family.
A month ago, to this day, Nan celebrated her 80th birthday and I was also extremely thankful that she was around to witness and celebrate my wedding earlier this year.
With a completely loveable nature and an eternal smile on her face, my nan will be missed by many. She was humble, giving, always put others before herself and constantly helped those in need. She was the kind of person who would buy things, not because she needed them but simply to help out people with small, struggling businesses.
Her passing was very sudden and completely unexpected as she was in relatively good health for her age.
Admittedly, I am still in shock over the events of the past couple of weeks and trying to arrive at an acceptance of the fact that sometimes these things, though seemingly unfair and sad, are simply meant to be.
I take comfort in the fact that she did not suffer long and left us peacefully.
I appreciate your patience over the past couple of weeks as I've had to take some time away from updating my blog and answering emails to deal with this difficult situation. A big thank-you to those who sent me kind words during this time.
Life must go on. I am happy to be returning again to my blog with regular updates.
{ photo taken at my wedding, March 28 of this year, by Jonathan Ong }
Hi all. Due to a family emergency I won't be updating Eat Drink Chic as regularly as usual over the next week or so but will try to do so whenever I get a chance. Thanks so much for your understanding.
A few key things happened after I got married.
A change of title from Miss to Mrs, an update to 'married' on my facebook status, a brief pondering of what will become of my now redundant 'I heart my boyfriend' t-shirt, and the strangest of all- a sudden and inexplicable explosion of sweet and sugary foods in my diet.
I kid you not, the day immediately after the wedding, it was sugar overload.
Although I've heard of the phenomenon, I've always thought myself immune to the seductive advances of the 'I can finally let myself go now that I'm married' club but, seriously, what other explanation can there be?
This sunny Tuesday afternoon I succumbed to the temptation of delicious honey from New Zealand brand J. Friend and Co. which I acquired during a Saturday shopping trip to Simon Johnson. I was drawn to the pretty packaging and interesting varieties with odd little names like 'Vipers Bugloss' that I struggle to pronounce. The poetic description on the back reads 'light pollen and floral notes with a distinctive vanilla taste'. Sounds good right? Well, boy is it ever. It can be eaten straight from the jar. No need for useless intermediary items like toast or crackers... or a spoon. Nuh-uh.
However, I can't go past the combination of honey and lemon tea. One of my faves.
For a less conventional serving suggestion (that I discovered only just today) -place a generous dollop of honey directly onto a slice of lemon and enjoy. Where has this concept been my whole life?
{ photos by amy moss }
The following are some facts about me that I should probably be too embarrassed
to tell you:
*I used to drink coffee, not for the taste, but for the swell of self-confidence from the caffeine high.
*I haven't read a novel in years because of the
lack of pretty pictures.
*I truly miss Lorelei Gilmore.
*I used to think the phrase was "It's a doggy dog world".
*Ice-cream is my greatest weakness.
*I've stopped watching Grey's Anatomy due to
a recently developed fear of mortality.
*I can't stand untidiness and mess. I am lazy and hate cleaning. Therein lies the conundrum.
*I've only just discovered the wonders of japanese novelty erasers
and suddenly the world is a better place.
{ photo by Amy Moss }
Ice-Cream Sandwiches are among my favourites in the "Ice-Cream" family.
After an exquisite meal at an elegant french restaurant, I have been known to politely refuse a chef prepared crème brûlée, under the pretext of 'fullness', in order to leave early and take an ungraceful dive into the nearest 7-eleven to acquire a, somewhat less fancy but, in my opinion, equally delicious, mass-produced dessert known as The Monaco Bar Ice-Cream Sandwich.
I am not ashamed by this fact. I stand by my love for these delectable creatures.
So, you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon this recipe for ice-cream sandwich goodness on Tartelette!
Firstly, Helen has used my Ice-Cream Parlour cup designs in her beautiful photos! 5 points right there already.
Secondly, she provides a gluten free recipe for the cookies! "Hooray!" shouts my supposed wheat allergy.
Perhaps now, instead of indulging in convenience store, pre-prepared packages of sin I can instead learn to make these delightful goodies for myself and also avoid the minor wheat-related tummy ailments. Now all that's left to do is actually get me in the kitchen.
{ photography by Helene Dujardin }
On March 28, 2010 I married my best friend and the love of my life
in my mother's vintage floral wedding dress in a small and casual backyard wedding.
Read more...
So you've probably heard that Mark and I cheekily
surprised all our guests with a civil wedding ceremony during our
'engagement' party. Well, the following article contains the whole story along with all the sweet little
details of the event, styled by yours truly with the help of some
very talented folk.
Just in case you're looking to create a similar style of event in
Melbourne, I've also provided a detailed account of where to source all
the bits and pieces and have compiled a list of some of the creatives
in the industry you should know.
Read more...
On Sunday March 28 at 2pm, our guests, believing they were about to attend an engagement party, began arriving at our beautiful backyard picnic. One
hour into the proceedings we shocked them with a surprise wedding
ceremony!
The looks of astonishment and delight
on the faces of our guests were pure gold.
After 10 years of friendship, in which the last
4 years we were an inseparable couple, Mark and I finally got married!
This series of photos by Jonathan Ong depict our first kiss as husband and wife.
Stay tuned for more details and photos from the event. This is only part one in a series of posts!
Well, it took awhile to dry but I'm really loving Eat Drink Chic's brand new coat of paint. I'm calling it the 'Sexy Salmon' edition. Feels like a brand new home.
Speaking of homes, have you met Constance? She's a cute vintage caravan for hire and she's mighty photogenic.
Constance was featured in this cute little book called My Cool Caravan with pictures by Hilary Walker.
Me-oh-my HIlary takes some adorable photographs.
When my mother and father got married, it was in a registry office in Sydney with 10 guests. Simple, small and intimate.
My mother wore a beautiful floral summer dress that cost her $45. She carried three red roses.
They married on New Year's Eve 1977. I arrived 2 years later...
Just thought I'd share this sweet, nostalgic moment with you all :)
I'm still eagerly awaiting the engagement photos. So much so I'm having dreams about it.
I couldn't resist. Here's a little teaser of our engagement party photo shoot. More to come soon :)
Photography by Jonathan Ong.
Here's a sneak preview of some objects collected for my upcoming Engagement Party on Sunday. They all fit perfectly with the vibrant and festive colour palette that has emerged. It's all coming together bit by bit...
I am totally smitten with this colourful Harlekin Ribbon from Maileg. I discovered it at Scarlet Jones and instantly knew I had to have it! The lanterns are also from Scarlet Jones and the wood pencils were found at Oxfam.
Just a quick note to let you know that updates to Eat Drink Chic will be on hold until the middle of next week as the mad dash to the party continues. Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to posting pics of the day! :)
Hi All! I've been wanting to apologise profusely for the lack of updates in the last month or so. I've missed quite a few days here and there and I've also been particularly bad with answering emails... BIG apologies! Some recurring health issues have left me scrambling at the last minute to get the details finished for my upcoming Engagement Party. And, yes, I'm big on the details! There are quite a few DIY elements involved so, needless to say, I've been flat out. The party is this sunday and my fiance and I are incredibly excited!!
My lovely mother and I recently spent an afternoon playing around with table floral arrangement ideas in preparation for sunday. We picked up some vibrant, summery colours- red, orange and pink gerberas, yellow billy buttons and strawberry fields. We're also hoping to add some other flowers of similar colours to the mix on the day. I'm in love with big, bright sunflowers at the moment and would like to see them incorporated in some way. As you can see, we're going with very simple arrangements in a collection of assorted jars. These were just a practice run with some work-in-progress ideas. Stay tuned for pics of the event to see the final result!
I first introduced you to my origami heart engagement party invitations in this article here. Well, after a working weekend of printing, cutting, folding, sewing, stuffing, addressing and stamping... phew... my fiancé and I have finally mailed out the little cuties!
Hand-stitching the edges of the translucent pocket was the most time-consuming part of the project. To ensure accuracy and quicken the hand-stitching process, we first measured and marked out (with needle pricks) the intended placement of the stitches. To save time, we only did 5 stitches on each side.
The actual origami folding, thankfully, went a lot quicker than expected! However, the duration of the the final phase of the project- addressing and stuffing envelopes- was sorely under-estimated. Having said that, we are both very proud of the effort that we put into creating unique, hand-crafted invitations for what will hopefully be a memorable event!
Special thanks to my hard-working fiancé, who whole-heartedly supported this crazy little project of mine. I am thankful that he shares in my desire to make this event as special as possible! Thanks also to our beautiful mothers for their contribution!
You can read more about these origami heart invitations here. Download the template to create a love note to someone special.
Meet Mr and Mrs Egghead. An impulse purchase that was the combined result of sifting through cheap kitsch in touristy beachside shops and a kind of crazed frivolity that comes with finally being on holiday. Maybe it was just a little too much sun, I don't know, but I thought these eggcups found in Phillip Island, Victoria were the most adorable little things ever and I instantly had to have them. And now I do.
The Penguin Parade was AMAZING, by the way.
I'm so thrilled to announce that one of my favourite interior design magazines, Inside Out, has mentioned Eat Drink Chic in their Jan/Feb 2010 issue! It's listed on page 36 under "Stationery blogs we're loving" alongside four other gorgeous blogs.
Thanks Inside Out!
Also, thank-you to Jessie from Follow Studio (whose incredibly inspiring blog is also on the list) for informing me! It was a lovely surprise! :)
Borders
recently gave me the amazing opportunity to design one of their windows!! This morning, my fiancé and I went down to Borders, Jam Factory to set it all up.
The window includes a handmade poster that I designed and some new holiday freebies and DIY projects that
will be appearing on Eat Drink Chic over the next couple of weeks
leading up to Christmas.
The display will be up until Christmas so if you're in Melbourne, please come down to Borders at the Jam Factory in South Yarra and check it out!
This was my first time designing a window display and I had a lot of fun! Thank-you to Borders for the wonderful opportunity! And special thanks to my awesome fiancé for all his help throughout the whole project!
Today I thought I'd share with you some floral inspiration along
with a 'show and tell' of my ever-expanding bottle collection! Continue
for more details and pics!
Read more...
