Adventure day!

This weekend I once again found myself having a lovely adventure in the city. This time I met up with my friend Ben for some exploring - we were lucky enough to check out several very good and a not so good exhibition, and have outselves some very good coffee and some very good wine. Wow, that was a lot of 'goods'... what can I say? It was a good day!

image from lamington drive website

Worth checking out is Rik Lee at Lamington Drive, which we mentioned a little while ago, Creepy at Gorker Gallery and Ghost Patrol and Sean Edward Whelan at No-Vacancy. And when I say "worth checking out" I really really mean it. I always have good intentions for checking out all the amazing exhibitions across Melbourne but often never make it to them, but on Saturday, despite the miserable rain and wind, I made it. So if I can, you can!

image from Seven Seeds website

I FINALLY made it to Seven Seeds, and now I see what the big deal! I love the coffee, I love the building, and even though I resisted the lamingtons and cupcakes they looked SO good and I am sure I will be back again soon to love them too!

We finished the day with wine at South Paw on Gertrude Street! Talk about a dream day. Big thanks to Ben for letting me tag along for some stickering as well....

It's that time again!!

It's time for another blogger/twitter meet and greet! Anyone who chickened out or was too busy to make it to the last one, here is you chance to come have a drink and a chat with some interesting characters and put faces to blogs.

It will be on Saturday 12th September at Sister Bella in Snider Lane (off Drewery Lane) at 4pm. Head over to My Aching Head to read some more about it and check out a map. Last time was lots of fun, very casual and a great opportunity to meet some new people, so do come along!

A big thankyou for Michael for organising it... again...

image by felip1

Open Day: Nicholas Building

image by Dean-Melbourne

One of my favorite buildings in Melbourne is the Nicholas Building. My fascination started when I first started jewellery making and got to know a few of the jewellers with their studio's in this building. I love the stairwells, the roof, and that elevator!

So it's that time of the year again! The Nicholas Building Open Day. Or days rather. Over two nights next week, Thursday the 27th and Friday the 28th, from 4-9pm, the artisans and creatives of this beautiful building will be opening their doors and giving us all a behind the scene look at what goes on in here, as well as giving us the chance to purchase or commission something of our own.

You can head over to the Nicholas Building blog to find out more, and to see some work out the artists you will be able to view, and you can check out a great post on The Design Files right here about last year's Open House. Mark it in your diaries right now!

http://www.thenicholasbuilding.blogspot.com
27th & 28th August 2009

4pm-9pm (both nights)
37 Swanston Street
Melbourne 3000

(corner of Flinders Lane and Swanston Street)

Rik Lee exhibition: ONE LAST LATE NIGHT

I'm a bit late with this one... exhibition opening is starting right this INSTANT, but it will be on at Lamington Drive until the 12th of September so you have plenty of time and no excuse not to make it there!

Rik Lee is a Melbourne illustrator who has the quirkiest most lovely drawings I have seen in a long while. He has the ability to make the everyday normal things seem beautiful and colourful and leave you wanting more. I can't wait to get down to Lamington Drive to check it out

His blog is definitely worth a browse (but not if you have pressing engagements as you will still be still there browsing in a few hours) and his recently opened shop has some great prints available.

Image from Rik Lee

ifoundyouinmelbourne gets dirty!

Not THAT kinda dirty... dirty as in actual dirt. Tree planting.

National Tree Day is coming up this weekend, Sunday August 2nd, and its a great opportunity to volunteer some time and come together together to make a difference. By planting a local native tree you can help to provide food and shelter for native wildlife, combat habitat loss, offset carbon emissions. and increase native biodiversity.

Anyone can get involved, just jump onto their website and find your nearest participating location, and then turn up on the day, or you can gather a few friends together and coordinate your own tree planting site. Too easy really! Hope to see some of you there!


images from National Tree Day website

Skipping girl up in lights!

video by Michael

Has anyone seen The Skipping Girl Vinegar is back up in lights? I had heard rumours that it was but was yet to see it with my own eyes. Michael from My Aching Head sent us over a snippet of the girl in action. Thanks!

Explained here:
"The "Little Audrey" neon sign, also known as "Skipping Girl" first lit up the sky in the 1930s. But it has not been fully illuminated in eight years.

The sign was taken down after a public appeal raised more than $100,000 for repairs and maintenance.

Martin Purlow of the National Trust said the Skipping Girl was nominated as a children's icon. "Obviously a lot of people have got a lot of love for Audrey so it really hasn't been difficult to get the public's imagination with this project," he said.

Jenny Hume of the Friends of Audrey said they collected 3,000 signatures of people wanting to get her skipping again.

"They all said, I remember when. We remember," she said.

The sign will be powered by renewable energy when "Little Audrey" is turned back on in June.

The 67 year old sign fell into disrepair and was turned off in 2001."

Open Day: Melbourne Museum of Printing this SUNDAY!!

Browsing the always lovely Oh What Larks it has come to my attention this SUNDAY there is an Open Day and fundraiser for the Melbourne Museum of Printing. I'm totally in love with old tools and machinery (I think thats the jeweller in me...) and I've been wanting for ages to get to the museum to have a look, so I think Sunday is the day!

To check it out, get over to 36 Moreland Street, Footscray, on Sunday between 2pm and 6pm for music, for demonstrations, an exhibition and some fundraising. And best of all its free!

Also head over to Oh What Larks to look at some beautiful photo's from the Museum that show a bit of what you might be in for.

image from Melbourne Museum of Printing

always greener...

One of the first thing I fell in love with in Melbourne is the abundance of green parks and gardens scattered throughout the city. It seems they just pop up around every corner. It's so lovely to sit under the big old trees and feel a million miles away, lying on the grass daydreaming.... (I always feel like I'm in Ferngully....remember that cartoon?)

My favorites are the treasury gardens and the fitzroy gardens. I love the big old trees just begging to be climbed, and I love being able to see the tops of the buildings poking out through the leaves.

There are lots of other great parks to explore like Royal Botanic Gardens, Carlton Gardens, Edinburgh Gardens and Flagstaff Gardens, but I also love the pokey little neighbourhood ones that just pop up out of nowhere, like the one on Leicester Street in Fitzroy, and the one near Melbourne University also on a Leicester Street, in Carlton.

If anyone else has some good ones let us know... I think a picnic is in order before the weather gets too miserable!

Sunday cycle

Sometimes I can be really lazy. And I find I can't be bothered leaving the house when I have no money to spend or anyone to do something fun with.



However, there are heaps of free things to do in Melbourne on your own, or with friends, and checking out the local bike tracks is always an adventure.

I'm not particularly a cycler, or much of a physical-activity-outdoors-er in general, but we are lucky to live in a city criss-crossed with amazing bicycle tracks, tucked away off the mainroads, and weaving around the river. I am even luckier that these tracks pretty much come straight to my door.

On Sunday I went for a ride along the tracks between Eltham and Templestowe but there are plenty of others in every area. For a list of the top ten cycling paths around Melbourne visit here.

So, like I said... not much of a cycler... infact I haven't ridden in about 12 years, and even then it was only as far as the edge of my driveway. Up and back. Up and back.


However, I suprised myself! It took me a little while to get used to the gears (my hot pink cycle of years ago never had these fancy GEARS!). There was a lot of swearing and complaining, and I will admit there was a few hills that I got off and pushed my bike up... but it was great to get out of the house! It was good to not sit around waiting for something to happen.

I'm not sure I will ever become an avid cycler, or buy a funky lycra outfit, but it was great to be out in the sunshine!