Birthday picnic for twins – with cake!

twinbirthdaypicnic (4 of 5)

Last year, my husband and I went to a talk about parenting twins, given by a child psychologist, himself an identical twin. One of the tips that stuck in my mind was that he advised making two birthday cakes and singing “Happy Birthday” twice. Back then, this seemed like a concern for the far distant [...]

Cyril’s Fine Foods, a Sydney institution

Cyrils (1 of 7)

A word of warning before you visit Cyril’s Fine Foods – Cyril may charm you into buying more of his fine foods than you intended. If you are into food and you happen to be in the Haymarket area, I definitely recommend you poke your head in and take a look. The store is on [...]

The best lamingtons in Sydney?

Single Origin Roasters (3 of 5)

It is a little ridiculous that it took an American living in Paris to point me in the direction of a good lamington in Sydney but that’s what happened. A lamington is a quintessentially Australian cake. In the US, Girl Scouts sell Girl Scout cookies. In Australia, Girl Guides or school kids have “lamington drives” [...]

Funny photo: The Elements of Style

Elements of Style

I guess this is a bit of an in-joke for writers but I found this picture in my archives and it tickled my funny bone all over again so I thought I’d share it. I snapped the photo in a bookshelf in London in 2005 but I don’t remember which one. Do you see what’s [...]

Mango baby

Baby eating mango

One of the best things about summer in Australia is the fruit, especially mangoes! My babies think so too – they’ll do just about anything for mango. You can see my daughter here sucking on a mango seed and looking pretty happy with life. Any time I eat a mango near either of the babies, [...]

Thoughts on the travel blogging ‘community’

Linda and Craig Martin, Christine and Drew Gilbert and baby Cole

Community. When it comes to travel blogging, what does that even mean? Is it compatible with cutting out the noise and being productive? Can you be connected to community and also appreciate the joy of quiet? When I started as a travel blogger in 2007, I was very keen on the idea of community (how hilarious [...]

Photo Friday: Living in a giant’s world

giant table close up

Hampstead Heath, London; Summer 2005 An art installation in Hampstead Heath in London in the summer of 2005. I love this – it really plays to the idea of living in a magical world. I feel like we are all miniature people, like Borrowers or Lilliputtians, and a giant is going to come along any [...]

More blogs that rock

Thumbs up!

Last week I listed a dozen travel blogs I love to read. Today I’m going to share some more blog recommendations, starting off with some more travel blogs and then expanding to other themes. Which blogs rock YOUR world? Have you nominated anyone for the 2012 Bloggies yet? Nominations close on Sunday (Monday Australian time) [...]

Why Detroit is worth visiting

Diego Rivera mural wall

When I tell people I have been to Detroit, they are usually surprised. When I tell them I liked it and would recommend it to other travellers, they are usually even more surprised. For starters it’s in “Flyover Country” and is not somewhere foreigners would generally go. Secondly it’s a city known for industrial grit [...]

My favourite travel blogs

Thumbs up!

I have been doing a spot of digital housekeeping to ring in the new year. I used TwitCleaner to clear out some of the junk that has ended up in my Twitter stream. I’ve locked down the privacy settings for my new Facebook Timeline on my personal account (I invite blog fans to ‘like’ my Facebook [...]

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