Pick A Little Plate

Luke & I had the cutest little dinner last night. We fancied ourselves a picking plate with lots of little delights. We had green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, mushrooms, chorizo, salami, brie, sharp & crumbly cheese, cucumber, rosemary & sea salt bread, tzatziki & spring + onion dip, artichoke, and corn crackers. It was delicious! 

Meeting The Boyfriend

My very dear friend Lara invited Luke & I over for a dinner party to meet her new boyfriend and housemate. It was such a delightful evening of friends, foreign music, fantastic food, wine and whiskey. She made a vegetarian lasagna, chorizo pasta and salad. The lasagna was one of the best ones I've had in quiet some time! Luke made citrus donuts with dark chocolate dipping sauce for desert.

Start Your Week Off With..

Over the past week I have found a couple of good posts that I wanted to share, and what better day to share it than on a Monday! Start your week off with..

• Some honesty and perspective about blogging with Sea Parrot 
• What you can find mushroom hunting with The Dainty Squid 
• Something to treat yourself with during the week by A Cup Of Subtle Tea  
• Day 1 of a blogging challenge over at Everything In Between 

Enjoy your Monday!

Free Sponsorship

Like Everything In Between , and A Cup Of Subtle Tea , I am offering free sponsorship on Tastes Like Love too!

As my blog is still new and developing, like so many other blogs out there, things like (free) sponsorship are a great way to get out to other bloggers and help fellow blogging folk to do the same. I was especially keen to offer/participate in this button swappin' sponsorshippin' business because Everything In Between & A Cup Of Subtle Tea have been good blogspiration for me over the past couple of weeks. Not to mention their blogs are also entertaining and endearing.

[ My sponsor buttons are 160 x 120 ]

So if you would be interested in free sponsorship on Tastes Like Love, send me an email - laurenemily@y7mail.com - to let me know. If you don't have a sponsor button but would like to participate, I'd be happy to make one for you!

Friday

Friday Luke & I had a sweet little Newcastle adventure. We started our morning quiet late with coffee and omelets outside in the sun.

Then made our way to Newcastle to have coffee with one of our friends Lara. I had been saving that little hat for her since my sister's hen's night months ago. I think she looks pretty boss in it! We had coffees & lime, pepper & sea salt fries. Although I speak to Lara probably every couple of days on the phone, I hadn't seen her in some months. So it was nice to catch up. We were at Eurobar, a cafe we used to haunt on Tuesday evenings together last year.

And after our coffee date, we had to do a couple of things around Newcastle. We swung by Darby Street to have dinner at The Depot because it has the most amazing warm vegetable salad with grilled haloumi and pistachio nuts. (The Depot is candle lit in the evenings, so it wasn't the best setting to whip out my phone for photos.) 
After dinner, we went to see one of my favourite bands, Eskimo Joe. It was the launch of their new album tour, and it was all kinds of amazing! I had the best time. They played all the songs I wanted them too, and it was just a flawless set. Luke isn't particularly into them, but he really enjoyed himself. I can't wait to see them again!

After the gig, we drove back home to the coast. When we got home we had cups of tea and finished our fantastic Friday off with some episodes of Oz!

Sydney

Luke & I went to Sydney yesterday for a little day trip. We have been meaning to go to 'Urban Bites ' for a while now. My cousin used to work there for a couple of years, & recently left to study overseas. We had eggs & coffee before we ventured into the city to visit the Sydney Art Gallery. It's been a couple of years since I last went & it was nice to see some of my favourite pieces, and some new interesting things. It seems sculpture is the current rage, the gallery was packed with interesting, abstract sculpture.

Photo Booth 2

I just wanted to share my second installment of my Photo Booth series I've been working on. These have been perfect vehicle to motivate me with my illustrations. I've been drawing almost everyday for the last two weeks. Hence my lack of blogging. That and season four of Gossip Girl. I've yet to start a third set as I have been working on a much over due drawing for my aunty. We had a deal, she would knit me a jumper, & I would do an illustration of her! It was a pretty sweet deal, she upheld her part & the past two winters I've kept warm. So over due is a little bit of an understatement! But for now, installment two!