Melbourne's Street Food

Taco Truck

The other week the Taco Truck was in St.Kilda, as it doesn't venture over to this side of the river very often a couple of us went down to try it out. It was amazing! Potentially even worth driving to Brunswick for. I got the chicken & fish tacos in a lunch pack with tortilla chips & guacamole. All ingredients were very fresh & delicious. Huge call to make, but possible the best chicken taco I have had this year. Highly recommend seeking this truck out. 

The Falafel Man

My work colleague had been raving about The Falafel Man at the Prahran market ever since I started working here. Seeing as I have nearly worked at the same place for a year I thought it was time to try it. The reports weren't wrong, a plate full of fresh salads, about 5 falafel balls & even pickles for $9! If you like falafels and find yourself in the area on Tuesday, Thursday or Friday do yourself a favour. Be prepared to wait a while in line (with randoms chatting to you), this man loves his craft and serves it up accordingly. 

Women in Fashion

I recently saw the movie Diana Vreeland  "The Eye Must Travel," through work. You see she used to write columns for Harpers Bazaar USA before becoming Fashion Editor there, working at Harpers for almost 25 years. She jumped ship to become Editor in chief at Vogue for 8 years before a 'difference in direction' forced her out. She was born in Paris and thought that anything from Paris was beautiful, hear hear sister! What I really learnt about her from the movie is that she saw fashion & beauty in anything & particularly that which was different or unusual, always wanting to take her readers to different parts of the globe when this wasn't the norm. Although she was very good friends with Coco Chanel which most people can't relate to, she was brought up when only 1 in 4 women was working. She never stopped working, after Vogue working for the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Making it the event it is today - NYC fashion event of the year.

This made me think of other strong women that magazines breed. Jackie Frank & Gemma Crisp both jumped to mind. In the December Issue of Marie Claire Jackie Frank was invited to talk to the women in Parliament and how hard is it to juggle life, family & a high pressure job. She didn't back down either, talking to Prime Minister Julia Gillard repeatedly pushing her for answers on same sex marriage. Gemma Crisp didn't shy away from photo shop rumours and the current all consuming spotlight of bulling in her Editor's Letter in November, telling Australia to give it a break on Lara Bingle and providing a detailed article to answer all of the questions asked about photo shop and the magazine.  Magazines are built for a reader, an editor makes sure they understand the readers, both Jackie & Gemma are very strong women and lead by example. 

Jackie Frank & Julia Gillard

Image from 7yahoo

Gemma Crisp, editor of Cleo

Exciting Echuca

For a girls getaway long weekend, my friend decided to celebrate her birthday in Echuca. It was my first time to Echuca since I was a young girl. It is a beautiful town about 3 hours away from Melbourne. We didn't even get lost going there! It is quite easy considering it was 1 straight road. We hired a house from stayz.com.au which slept 15 people very comfortably and had a massive kitchen & family area. The pool over looked the huge backyard, the Murray river at the base of the property and the sun was out for most of the weekend. We had breakfast at Black Pudding which was very busy on a Saturday morning, the food was delicious. After celebrating the birthday at the local nightclub OPT on Saturday night, the drive home was long! All in all a perfect weekend away.  

View from Backyard

Murray River from the property

House in Echuca

Amelia, Rachel & Myself in the pool

Birthday Girl - Simmi

"Lifes too Short for Boring food" - Black Pudding

New Places (for me) Prahran & Richmond

Fog bar/restaurant

Here I was thinking that Fog is quite fancy-pants. Think again for the lunch time meals. With a Mexican/Southern America taste on their menu a lunch here  won't set you back as much as you would think. I am told that dinner is different.I had the calamari which was delicious, I did have food envy on a fellow diner who got the beef enchilada. It turns into cougar city at about 5-6pm, very funny!  

Cheerio

Cheerio is a cute little cafe in Richmond on Lennox St. It was a lovely sunny day so my friend & I decided to sit outside. Both of us ordered different sandwiches off the small menu. It was actually the best chicken sandwich I have had in a long time, with grainy bread that was fluffy - who would have thought this possible?!

Baby

Baby cafe & pizzeria has been busy since the moment they opened the door. In an ideal location on Church st just over the bridge in Richmond, where Pearl used to be & the same owner as Chin Chin, it is no wonder why. I have had both takeaway and eaten there and I must say it does satisfy. With authentic italians as waiters, perfect gnocchi and thin based pizza you will be pleased you visited. However it is very noisy inside & our takeaway order was messed up, as a side note! 

Christmas Present Ideas - for everyone!

Christmas present buying is a joy for a small few. I LOVE it! Last year my mother kindly let me come with her to buy the rest of the families & my own, she hates it. As we are only 41 sleeps away from Christmas and December gets crazy with parties & catch ups, I have put below a few ideas for your friends and family come Christmas time. As usual I think women are very easy to buy for and men well, men are just confusing! 

For people of all ages:

Harry Potter Print

(Love!!)

For the Ladies:

Glass Jewellery Box

Can be filled with anything!

Print

For the lads:

iPhone Dock

T-Shirt 

(I also wouldn't say no to the man!)

For the Kiddies (cute!):

iWood Toy

And for me:

Perfume from Mecca

I also think there is a magazine or book out there for anyone, a subscription is a great idea.

Set the Bubbles Free - Soda Stream

Last week Soda Stream launched their new cocktail mixes at Mon Bijou in the city. With beautiful views of the city, the cocktails were flowing & Ruby Rose was on the deks. I had never seen her in person before and she is absolutely stunning - stop the room gorgeous. Ben & Andy from Masterchef were there, along with the beautiful Soda Stream brand ambassador Dr Katrina Warren. My favourite cocktail from the 'Soda Stream bar' was the Cosmo, I also love the Soda Stream at home with a bit of lime. You can never be too hydrated!

Cosmo's

Ruby Rose

Mon Bijou

Soda Bar Cocktail List

Melbourne Cup

My first time going to 'the race that stops the nation' was thanks to Nova. It was a great day, luckily we were undercover so didn't get wet at the end of the day. The food was absolutely amazing, Peter Rowlands catering & the Nova team are a lot of fun. Of course the music was great, had a little bit of a boogie after the last race. I also have to commend Metro, those who know me know how much I dislike public transport, but getting to and from the track was a breeze. Didn't win a single bet, but heard some great winning stories on the day which always restores your faith! The fashion's were crazy loud prints, which leaves it up to the individual on taste. I thought Jennifer Hawkins was the best dressed celebrity for the day, she looked stunning in the Tony Maticevski dress.

Myself & GSM from Nova

My date for the day (sister if you can't tell!) 

Jennifer Hawkins for Myer

Derby Day

After last year's Spring Carnival at my old work, us girls decided that next year we would definitely do a carpark this year. Thanks to Tess (and her mother) we were able to get 2! The day went off without a hitch, the flowers were in bloom at Flemington, great food organised by Steph and a lot of people who just wanted a good sunny day at the races. That it was, certainly helped by a few wins on the track & the copious amounts of champagne. It was great to see so many ladies dressing classically in black & white - which is quite hard to stuff up. I thought Lara Bingle for Swisse was best dressed out of the celebs for sure. 

Gorgeous Roses in bloom at Flemington

350-351 Fun

Steph, Tess & I

Lara Bingle

Bendigo Cup

When I first started in media sales the Bendigo Cup was spoken about often & very highly. Southern Cross Austero take the agencies they work with and some clients on a train to the Bendigo Cup. Now that I am on the agency side I scored a coveted invite. The day did not disappoint! A long day with the wobbly 2 hour train ride each way, filled with many champagnes, lost bets and the best view of fashions on the field. 

Bendigo Cup

Myer Fashions on the field (Kris Smith in grey suit)

Halloween Theme

My friendly boss (left) and work colleague (right)