Little Lovers In The City

This post is a couple of days late, but I think it'll be okay. Last week Luke & I spent a couple of nights in Sydney as a late celebratory anniversary treat. We both worked on the actual day, and we figured we would post-pone it until later in the month. We caught the train to Sydney late Thursday afternoon, and got stuck in afternoon traffic and got to the station just as our train did. We didn't have any time to buy tickets, and the next train was ages afterwards, so we got on. It was such a stressful hour and a half, I kept thinking at any time we would be fined hundreds of dollars for not buying a ticket. But we got to Sydney without any fines. Because Luke & I are just naturally unorganised people, we didn't actually look up an address for our hotel, but when we walked straight out of the station it was directly opposite. And our luck continued with a free room upgrade when we checked in! After we dropped our bags off in the room, we had some pre drinks and left for Jack White's solo Sydney gig at The Horden Pavilion. It was absolutely amazing, Mr White is just perfect live.

We gave ourselves a gigantic sleep in on Friday and then ventured out for brunch in Surry Hills. We normally flock straight to Newtown, but my sister suggested we visit Surry Hills for a change, and it was a fantastic suggestion! We had brunch at a cute little cafe that had the most delightful organic coffee, looked at so so many delightful stores and then made our way back to central so we could get a train to Newtown. I was determined not to come home without a new dress, and third shop into my mission I found the most delightful violet vintage day dress. I also picked up some new T2 teas and some T2 tea infused jam and a marmalade. We had dinner at Corridor, the same place we had dinner at for our anniversary last year. Only last year we didn't drink as many cocktails! Afterwards we went to see Band Of Skulls at The Factory. It was slightly more enjoyable than the gig the previous night because we were close to the front, and because I'm short that really helps! We had the best evening, Luke particularly because Band Of Skulls is one of his favourite bands. 

Our evening had to end earlier than we would have liked, because we both had to work on the Saturday morning so we made an early morning exit at 5 am. Luke & I haven't spent a couple of days away together alone in such a long time, so it was really lovely to spend some actual time together. Little trips like these are so important, and I can't wait to go on another adventure soon!

Belated Birthday Boots Illustrated

New boots.

Last Tuesday I went to Newtown in Sydney by myself for the first time ever. I've never had a solo adventure to the city, so I was a little excited and nervous. I have no sense of direction & whenever I'm in Sydney I rely on whoever I'm with to get about. 

My birthday was about a month ago, and because Luke works so much and there aren't any places around the coast that stock Doc Marten's, I only just got my present last Tuesday. New black Doc's.

Here they are, illustrated rather than photographed.

Train Ride From Hell

1. On the train, 2. Pizza for lunch at Twelve in Newtown

3. At the T2 store in Newtown, 4. City dwelling

5. Baby deer button I bought at Beehive Gallery in Newtown

6. Cappuccino's & fries at The Newtown Cafe

7. Playing dress ups in Sportsgirl at the QVB

On Thursday Lara & I ventured to Newtown in Sydney for coffees and last minute Christmas present hunting. I didn't think I would get to see Lara again until the new year, so our little city date was perfect! We looked at so so many stores, I bought some T2 for my friend Holly, and a little baby deer button. I don't normally where pin buttons, but it was way too cute and I think it will go perfectly with a lot of my day dresses.

After spending the majority of the day browsing Newtown's finest, we had cappuccino's and fries at Lara's favorite cafe in Newtown and then made our way to the Queen Victoria Building. We looked around there for a while & I bought some big green circle earring studs from Sportsgirl. We left QVB and headed to Central, only to find we had missed a train by minutes and had to wait around for an hour or so for the next. 

Oh how I wish we had of made that train though.

When we first got on the train it was fine, nobody seemed to be hectic and there were transit officers on the train. After about an hour two men boarded the train and seemed to be quite inebriated. They sat in the carriage upstairs, closest to us so we could hear them having drunken quarrels and being generally disruptive. They were escorted by the transit officers to a non seating area of the train to be spoken to, were let off with a warning, and the next stop the transit officers got off. After they got off, the two men were being exceptionally disruptive, which I was fine to listen to as it wasn't directed towards me. However things started to get a little bad when a man, who seemed to be homeless, sat behind Lara & I. Immediately I could smell him, and probably a month's worth of wear on his skin. It was rancid. We stayed put for as long as we could take it and then moved without a fuss. 

We had been sitting in an empty carriage for maybe ten minutes before the two men upstairs started to get really loud, it was at this point that Lara contacted the emergency number on the train to have a transit officer ready at the the next big stop. The next minute we heard a super loud thud and we looked around and one of the men had fallen down the stairs flat on his face. And he didn't move afterwards. We kept our distance and watched to see if he was going to get up, and the train came to a stop and other passengers pushed him aside with their feet to get pass. Nobody asked if he was okay, or even showed their concern. His 'friend' came down to try and make him get up, proceeded to kick him square in the face, and then left him laying there. The next big stop was the one I had to get off at, and I saw the transit officers give the train a quick once over and heard them saying it was all good to go. I went over and asked them to go back on the train because I felt so horrible my friend was still on there alone. We went back into the carriage where the unconscious person was still laying flat, and they picked him up and plonked him on the foot path. While this was going on, his 'friend' had got off the train and was standing next to the train yelling at the transit officers. He boarded the train again, walked straight up to Lara and yelled in her face to not mention what she had seen to anybody, and then got off again. And then the train left. And that was it, nothing was done about the apparently hurt man, drunk or not, he is still a person and deserves to be treated like so.

 I am truly disgusted nobody did anything, and even more appalled that people pushed him aside with their feet to get through the walk way. What happened to human spirit?

Harvest Festival

On Sunday Luke & I went to Harvest Festival at Paramatta. To begin with the day wasn't looking so good as it was quite over cast & hot, there was track work from the Central Coast through to Sydney, and we got a bad pot of organic yogurt for breakfast. 


We had to take a coach rather than the train, which turned out to be more enjoyable. It was air conditioned and quiet. We got to Sydney around lunch time & had quick burgers & coffee before we made our way to Paramatta. I had never been to Paramatta before, so it was nice to visit a new place & see my favourite band all on the same day. As we were making our way to the oval where the festival was being held, we were crossing at traffic lights and passed a middle aged man who went to grab me & then realised I wasn't alone & that I was with someone and snapped his hand back up and made a weird 'ohhhooh' noise. Apart from that, the midday walk to the oval was lovely!


I had no idea what to expect going to Harvest, it was the first time the festival had been held & the line up was incredible but usually new festivals always have a couple of hiccups. However, the day was all kinds of amazing. When we first walked in there was a huge 'Harvest' orange letter block sign, performance artists walking around, food spots with coffee vans, and lots of cute signs everywhere. It all looked really dreamy and whimsical. And to get into the festival there was a short walk over a bridge, and along a gravel road that looked like the set of romantic movie or something. All the stages were quite close so you didn't have to dash about all day, and most of the people that went were super chilled and friendly.


The first band we saw was 'The Family Stone', then 'Tv On The Radio', a few songs by 'Bright Eyes', walked around for a bit, ran into an old work friend of Luke's, & then watched a couple of songs by 'Mogwai'. I left their set super early to wait up the front for 'The National' because thats who I really wanted to see & it was so fantastic! It was my first time seeing them, I wish I got tickets to see their side show. They played a lot of their new stuff, and a good mix of their older stuff. They played 'Apartment Story' which is my favourite National song, so that was all that mattered to me! Afterwards 'The Flaming Lips' played and they had the most epic opening which involved walking out of a mystical womb, confetti, streamers coming out of a walking stick, balloons everywhere & the singer in a giant ball rolling around in the crowd. It was crazy! 


We left a little earlier so we didn't get to see 'Portishead' so we wouldn't miss a bus home as Luke had to work today. I didn't mind so much because I got to see 'The National' and a whole bunch of other great bands. It was such a bizarre, amazing festival!

1. Coffees on the train 2. Making our way through the oval to the festival 

3. Harvest sign 4. Tv On The Radion 5. Rene Magritte love trolls 6. The National 

7. The Flaming Lips 8. Late night ice creams and sunburn

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.